Michigan State Swimming and Diving Releases 2008-09 Schedule
7/31/2008 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
July 31, 2008
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State head swimming and diving coach Matt Gianiodis announced the 2008-09 schedule today. The Spartans will host seven meets this season, in addition to their annual Alumni and Green/White meets.
"I think we have a really good balance to our schedule this year," said Gianiodis. "We have a lot of really tough meets, and our hope is to swim well in November to prepare ourselves for the spring semester."
During Homecoming weekend, the Michigan State swimming and diving program will welcome back all former Spartans for the annual Alumni Meet on Saturday, Oct. 4. The following weekend, MSU will begin competition with the Green/White meet on Friday, Oct. 10 at 6 p.m. inside IM West.
The women's team will kick-off the regular season the next day, as they host Minnesota in a 2 p.m. dual. The Gophers will be a tough test to begin the season for the Spartan women as they finished 13th at the NCAA Women's Championship in the spring. The women continue competition with a two-day dual at Illinois on Thursday, Oct. 16 and Friday, Oct. 17. The meet is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. on Thursday and 3 p.m. on Friday.
Both the men's and women's team will welcome Iowa on Saturday, Oct. 25 to IM West for a 12 p.m. dual, the first scheduled meet for the Spartan men. The opening month of the season concludes with a women's dual against Houston, who placed at 28th at last year's NCAAs, at IM West on Oct. 31.
After a couple weeks off, the Spartans return to the pool on Friday, Nov. 14 for a 5 p.m. meet at Grand Valley State. The following weekend, MSU will travel to Evanston, Ill. for the Northwestern Invitational, set to beheld from Friday, Nov. 21 to Sunday, Nov. 23. The host Wildcats had a successful 2007-08 season, placing in the top-20 at both NCAA meets.
The Spartans will finish the falls semester with a home meet against Ball State on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 2 p.m.
Michigan State will begin the spring semester at NC State for a dual on Friday, January 9. They return home the following weekend for a pair of meets. The men will host interstate rival Michigan, who placed sixth at last year's NCAAs, on Friday, January 16 at 7 p.m., followed by a full team meet against Purdue on Saturday at 12 p.m. The Purdue meet will mark the final home meet for the Spartan men.
The next weekend, the Spartans will take part in the Shamrock Invitational, hosted by Notre Dame, on Friday January 23 and Saturday, January 24. Joining MSU and the Irish will be Denver and West Virginia.
The Michigan women's team, who was ninth at the 2008 NCAA Championships, come to IM West on Friday, January 30 for a 5 p.m. meet. The competition will be the final home event for the MSU women. Michigan State will wrap up the 2008-09 regular season with a Janaury 31 meet at Oakland, set for 1 p.m.
The Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championship are scheduled from Wednesday, Feb. 18 to Saturday, Feb. 21 at the University of Michigan, while the men's championships will take place at the University of Purdue from Thursday, Feb. 26 to Saturday, Feb. 28.
The NCAA Championships will be held throughout March in College Station, Texas, beginning with the NCAA Diving Zones on Thursday, March 2 to Saturday, March 4. The women's championship will run from Thursday, March 19 to Saturday, March 21, while the men's championships is set for Thursday, March 26 to Saturday, March 28.
