Tuesday, March 8, 2011 I TechN'eWS (Photos courtesy Melanie Koto) GRAEME PORT sports@technewsiit.com By Melanie Koto STAFF WRITER The Scarlet Hawks Swimming and Diving teams have oflicially concluded a very long season after competing in the 2011 NAIA National Swimming and Diving Champion- ship meet over the weekend in St. Petersburg, Missouri. The Women’s team finished in four- teenth place out of nineteen teams, and the men finishedseventh out of seventeen. The meet lasted from Wednesday, March 2 through to Saturday March 5, leaving the team exhaust- ed and glad for a break. Wednesday, March 2 The meet began with the Men’s 3-meter springboard and Women’s 1-meter competi- tion. Sophomore Ian McNair took 3rd in the men’s 3-meter, finishing with a final score of 275.50. Thursday, March 3 Swimming ofiicially began on Thursday with the 200 yard medley relay. The Women’s team of juniors Andrea Zuniga and Julia Du- arte, freshman Aimee Dewante, and junior Melanie Koto took 15th with a final time of 1:55.22, while the Men’s team of sophomore Matthew Rosenfeld and Eric Grunden, junior Keiji Halloway, and sophomore Max Ram- minger took 6th with a final time of 1:33.33. Grunden finished 16th in the Men’s 50 yard freestyle for the team with a time of 21.47, while Ramminger took 6th place overall with a final time of 20.65. The Women’s 800-yard freestyle relay of Dewante, Zuniga, freshman Abby Maze, and Koto took 11th with a final time of 8:06.92, and the Men’s team of Grun- den, freshman Felipe Bergh, sophomore Mi- chael Keane and freshman Yoni Pruzansky fin- ished 8th with a final time of 6:59.41. McNair finished 3rd on the men’s 1 meter board as well with 248.85 points. 11 Swimming and Diving finish strong at Nationals Friday, March 4 The Women’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of Koto, Maze, Zuniga and Dewante took 15th with a final time of 1:44.24, and the Men’s team of Pruzansky, Grunden, Keane and Ram- minger took 6th with a final time of 1:25.49. In the Women’s 400-yard IM, Dewante took 15th finishing with a final time of 4:44.64, and in the Men’s event, senior Joe Muchna took 16th with a 4:11.53, while freshman Michael Bodzay took 9th with a 4:06.30, re-setting the school record that Muchna had held from last year. In the Men’s 100-yard butterfly, junior Keiji Hal- loway finished 13tj for the Men’s team with a final time of 50.86, and freshman Yoni Pruzan- sky finished 6th in the 200 yard freestyle with a 1:41.97. Grunden took 9th in the Men’s 100 yard breaststroke, with a final time of 57.63, followed closely by Ramminger, who finished 10th with a 57.85. The final relay, the 400-yard medley relay, saw the Women’s team of Zuniga, Duarte, Dewante and Koto finishing 12th with a final time of 4:09.05. Saturday, March 5 Bodzay started the final day of the meet ofl taking 13th in the Men’s 200-yard backstroke with a 1:54.26, and claiming his 2nd team re- cord of the meet. The previous record had been set more than 20 years ago and was the last re- cord still standing from before the 2001-2002 season. In the Men’s 100 yard freestyle, Ram- minger finished 12th with a final time of 46.33, and in the 200-yard breaststroke, Grunden fin- ished 15th with a 2:10.24. Dewante took 16th for the Women’s team in the 200-yard butterfly with a 2:20.99, while Muchna finished off his senior swimming career with the event, tak- ing 12th with a 1:54.09. The final event, the Women’s 400-yard freestyle relay, the team of Dewante, Maze, Zuniga and Koto finished 13th with a final time of 3:44.81. By Ashlie Ingold STAFF WRITER The plyometrics class at Keating Sports Center is taught by instructor Tony Saddy. Plyometrics is not only for athletes, but for anyone who wishes to work on their speed, powerful movements, and improve the functions of their nervous system, gener- ally for the purpose of improving perfor- mance in sports. Plyometrics movements, in which a muscle is loaded and then con- tracted in rapid sequence, use the strength, elasticity and innervation of muscle and surrounding tissues to jump higher, run faster, throw farther, or hit harder, depend- ing on the desired training goal. This past week, I was able to interview Tony about his experiences in teaching plyometrics. How long have you been teaching Plyometrics? I’ve been training athletes in plyometrics, balance, strength and flexibil- ity for 11 years. How long have you been teaching Plyometrics at IIT? I’ve been at IIT for the last year and a half...training baseball, vol- leyball, soccer and student body members. What do you like about teaching Plyo- metrics here? I love the variety of students that come to the plyometrics classes at IIT. They all have a variety of areas they want to improve, and I enjoy supporting them with it. What are the benefits to taking a Plyometrics class? The benefits of taking plyometrics are endless! Benefits include; explosive power, stamina, strength, balance and coordination to name a few; weight loss and increased metabolism as well! How did you get into Plyometrics? I’ve been an athlete my whole life. Plyometrics was the way me and my friends trained ourselves back when I was a pre-teen. I continually honed my skills after that into the training arena. What do you hope to accomplish by teaching Plyometrics? What I hope to ac- complish at IIT with plyometrics is a better more prepared athletic group. Athletes who Meet your plyometrics instructor have more strength, balance, and stamina play better, longer. Who was your main influence to begin teaching Plyometrics? My main influences deal with the “end game.” What I mean by this is most athletic contests are won in the last minutes of the game. In order to finish games, you must have the stamina and skill to close! Do you teach outside of IIT and where? I have a variety of clients ranging from ages 17-72. I train them in a variety of ways from strength, weight loss, stamina, plyometrics and flexibility. I also do some post-rehabilitation work in collusion with a few doctors in Chi- cago. What days and times are your classes at Keating? Currently, we have class at 9 pm. on Tuesday evenings. I’ve also worked in some al- ternate classes for the athletic teams. New Head Men's Soccer Coach almost chosen By Graeme Port SPORTS EDITOR Over the past two weeks, five coaching candidates have been interviewed for the vacant head Men’s Soccer coaching position at IIT. The five candidates - Greg Gidman, Roberto Giannini, Andrew Lee, Sam Schro- eder, and David Strother - were interviewed by Athletic Director Enzley Mitchell, and the departments five varsity sports coaches. As well as the coaches, the Men’s Soccer players were also given the opportunity to speak to each of the candidates, to question them on numerous soccer related issues. The appointment of one of the five interviewed coaches should be announced sometime this coming week. Make sure you pick up a copy of Tech- News next Tuesday to see who the depart- ment appoint as the new head Men’s Soccer coach.