After almost three years of competing at the collegiate level, junior swimmer Kirsten Koepcke stills gets the jitters before each meet. The expectation of setting a new season best is her ultimate adrenaline rush.

Koepcke, along with seven of her teammates, will take this enthusiasm to the US Open where they will compete against some of the best swimmers in the world. This three-day qualifying tournament will give the Illini a taste of a championship format.

"The US Open is a really big meet," Koepcke said. "There are going to be so many people there, including Olympians. There will be all kinds of teams from all over the country, not just college teams. We are going to be competing individually against other people and just not against other teams."

With only a small percentage of the team going, the squad will have to rely on a few voices for support. Although this may be a little change from their daily routine, Koepcke feels that the girls competing will provide a backbone for one another.

"I always miss it when we are all not together," Koepcke said. "I like the team atmosphere when we can all cheer together and be really loud, but I'm sure we can still do the same thing with eight of us."

Getting deeper and deeper into the season, the Illini are progressing rapidly. Despite their fifth place finish at the Indiana Invite last week, the team's confidence is building.

"Overall, this year has gone really well," head coach Sue Novitsky said. "The attitude on the team has been very positive. They've been working extremely hard in the pool and in the workout room. We're coming along in our competitions."

Although the Illini always strive to come out on top, they still managed to establish numerous season best times at Indiana. With a busy month of November, the squad traveled to Bloomington, Ind. one step behind their competitors.

"Last week a lot of the teams we competed against were well-rested," Koepcke said. "Our whole team wasn't rested so we did decently but not as well as we would have liked."

With this meet behind them, the eight qualifiers from Illinois are fully rested and prepared to show what they can do. According to Novitsky, it is important that her team focuses on their individual times because they have no control over their competitors.