May 16, 2012
NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State swimming and diving team added another swimmer to its roster, as head coach Steve Paska announced the transfer of Marissa Yontz (Canton, Ill./Illinois-Chicago) to the program Monday.
Yontz, who will have three years of eligibility remaining with the Redbirds and plans to major in graphic design at ISU, was named the UIC Newcomer of the Year during the 2011-12 season and helped the Flames break school records in all four relay events at the Horizon League Championships.
"Marissa is an outstanding addition to the Redbird swimming and diving program and will make an immediate impact in the sprint freestyle events," Paska stated. "Marissa had a fantastic freshman year at UIC and ended the season with a sensational Horizon League Championship Meet performance, swimming personal-best times in the 50, 100, and 200 freestyle events. She is a gifted sprinter who loves to race, especially the challenge of swimming the anchor leg of relays, and will play a significant role competing on the medley and free relays for us. Marissa is an intelligent young lady with a great personality that will make her a terrific teammate and student-athlete at Illinois State"
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Yontz helped UIC to a pair of second-place finishes and two third-place finishes in the relay events at the Horizon League Championships and was third individually in the 50-yard freestyle (23.55 personal-best time) and the 100-yard freestyle (51.20 personal-best time). She also swam a personal-best time of 1:52.24 to place sixth in the 200-yard freestyle.
During her prep career, Yontz was a four-year varsity swimmer at Canton High School and placed 20th in the 50-yard freestyle as a senior at the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) state meet. She also swam for the Canton YMCA Barracudas, with whom she set two individual records and multiple relay records. She also qualified for the YMCA Nationals Short Course Meet as a sophomore, junior and senior.
A gifted all-around athlete, Yontz also ran varsity track during her first three years in high school and qualified for the IHSA state meet in her first two seasons in the 4x800 meter relay.
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