Oct. 18, 2007

Swimmers Set to Begin 2007-08 Slate on Friday in Bowling Green

    Youngstown -- Coming off its best Horizon League finish in school history, the Youngstown State swimming and diving team will begin its bid to keep improving this Friday at the Tom Stubbs Relays.
    The diving squad will compete for the first time on Sunday at the Clarion Diving Invitational before YSU hosts its first of three home meets on Oct. 26.
    The Penguins return 11 letterwinners and five school record holders from last year's team that finished fifth at the conference meet. With the addition of an impressive recruiting class and a revamped diving squad, their sights are set higher this season.
    The team has a lot to build on from last year. At the 2007 Horizon League Championships, the Penguins broke two school records that had stood for more than 20 years and posted 23 personal-best times.
    After its home meet against Marshall and Green Bay on Oct. 26, the Penguins will hit the road for six straight away meets and a winter training trip over the next three months. The first two of those road meets will be against Horizon League opponents. YSU will swim at Wright State on Nov. 2 and against Butler as part of a double-dual with Illinois State on Nov. 3.
    YSU will have its senior day on Jan. 26 against Akron and go immediately back on the road for the Carnegie Mellon Invitational on Feb. 1. A day later, YSU will swim in a key double dual against league opponents Cleveland State and UIC that will foreshadow the Horizon League Championships later in the month. The three teams occupied the fourth through sixth spots in the final standings with UIC finishing fourth and Cleveland State placing sixth.
    The Penguins will also host the annual Youngstown Diving Invitational on Feb. 9.