Thank you for your generosity and support during Cleveland State's 5^th Annual Giving Day on Feb. 20. The Department of Athletics raised a record $186,387 from the contributions of a record 1,957 gifts. The total nearly doubled last year's amount of $95,000 raised and we more than doubled last year's number of 776 donors.

 

Your donations will help enhance the experience of more than 350 student-athletes in our 18 NCAA Division I sports and make a positive impact on their time as a Viking through the support of scholarships, offsetting travel costs, maintaining and updating facilities and providing the necessary equipment as teams continue to strive for Horizon League Championships.

 

We appreciate your support in helping us progress our campaign as we continue to support engaged learning at Cleveland State both on and off the field of competition.

 

Thank you again and we look forward to your continued support of Cleveland State Athletics.

 

Men's Basketball: Led by first-year head coach Dennis Felton, the Vikings won three games in the Horizon League tournament and became the second lowest seed (No. 8) to advance to the championship game, coming up one win short of an NCAA bid. The team showed continued improvement as the season progressed, winning four of its last five games and seven of the final 12. Tyree Appleby was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman team and was also selected to the all-tournament team along with senior Kenny Carpenter.

 

Women's Basketball: The Vikings finished the season with a 19-11 overall record and went 11-7 in the Horizon League, tied for fourth place. Senior Khayla Livingston and junior Ashanti Abshaw were both named to the All-Horizon League first team, while senior Shadae Bosley was voted to the Horizon League All-Defense team.

 

Fencing: CSU concluded the season on March 10 as the Vikings hosted the NCAA Midwest Regional in Woodling Gym, which featured several of the top teams in the country. Freshman Declan Forth finished eighth in the saber, while senior Sarah Mok was 11^th in the foil.

 

Men's Golf: The four-time defending Horizon League champion men's golf program has played two tournaments this spring and will return to action on April 2-3 at the Seattle Redhawk Invitational. The tournament will be played at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash., which was home to the 2015 US Open.

 

Women's Golf: The Vikings have played in two tournaments this spring as they prepare to defend the Horizon League Championship in late April. Sophomore Kaylee Neumeister leads the team and ranks fourth in the Horizon League with a 76.6 scoring average this year.

 

Men's Lacrosse: CSU has continued to show improvement during the second season of the program, including an 8-7 win at Air Force on Feb. 23 for the first road win in program history. The team opened the season against defending national runner-up Ohio State in front of a sold out crowd in the Krenzler Dome.

 

Softball: The Vikings are in the midst of concluding a stretch of 20 straight games away from home with six games in Hawaii this weekend. A trio of players – Macy Kaisk, Mackenzie Joecken and Riley Ries – have been named Horizon League Player of the Week this year.

 

Men's Swimming & Diving: CSU had another strong showing at the Horizon League Championship, finishing as the runner-up, just 66 points behind Oakland. It was the sixth time in the last seven years that the Vikings finished in the top two at the League championship.

 

Women's Swimming & Diving: The Vikings posted a third place finish at the Horizon League Championship, an improvement of two spots from last year. Junior Molly McNamara was named the Horizon League Women's Athlete of the Year and Paul Graham claimed Coach of the Year honors.

 

Men's Tennis: The team is concluding its spring trip through Florida this week and will open Horizon League play on March 24 against Green Bay in the Medical Mutual Tennis Pavilion. Nico Mostardi leads the squad with 20 wins this year, while Benjamin Slade recently became the 13^th player in program history to reach 50 career singles wins.

 

Women's Tennis: The Vikings are finishing up their spring trip through Florida this week and return home to open Horizon League play against Green Bay (March 24) and Milwaukee (March 25). Freshman Gaby Schoenberg leads the team with 13 wins this year.

 

Women's Track & Field: CSU set multiple person and school records at the Horizon League Indoor Championships, including a seventh place finish by Anna Brandtin the 800-meter run. The team now has its sights set on the outdoor season, which begins this weekend at the William & Mary Tribe Invitational.

 

Wrestling: The Vikings had four place winners at the EWL Championship, including junior Evan Cheek who captured the 141-pound title and was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Championships. Cheek earned a bid to the NCAA Championships and will begin competition on Thursday (March 15) at Quicken Loans Arena. Senior Nick Corba (184 pounds) and freshman Georgio Poullas (165 pounds) both finished fourth at the EWL Championship.

 

 

To view a list of upcoming events, broadcast information, start times and stat links, please visit the calendar on our website, www.CSUVikings.com.

 

 

The Cleveland State Department of Athletics made headlines throughout the month of February on and off the competition field. To view the latest newsworthy stories from CSU Athletics, please visit, STORIFY.

 

Congratulations to junior Evan Cheek who won the 141-pound title at the EWL Championships on March 3.

 

Seeded third in the bracket, Cheek advanced to the semifinals with a fall and used a takedown late in the first sudden-victory session to advance to the finals.

 

In the championship round, Cheek captured his first EWL title with a fall late in the second period over the top-seed and undefeated wrestler from Clarion who was ranked as high as fourth in the country.

 

Named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Championships, Cheek earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship and will face Oklahoma State's Dean Heil in the first round on Thursday (March 15) at Quicken Loans Arena.

 

Cheek's match – which should begin around 1:00 pm – will be broadcast on ESPNU and ESPN3.

 

 

First-year head coach Dennis Felton led the Vikings on a magical run to the Horizon League Championship game earlier this month. Seeded eighth, CSU became the second lowest seed to ever advance to the title game and played in the championship game for the first time since 2009.

 

The Vikings defeated Youngstown State, 72-71, in the opening round, knocked off top-seed and defending tournament champion Northern Kentucky, 89-80, in the quarterfinals and topped fourth-seeded Oakland, 44-43, in the semifinals. The first No. 8 seed to ever reach the finals, the Vikings fell to second-seeded Wright State in the championship, 74-57.

 

Senior Kenny Carpenter and freshman Tyree Appleby were both named to the All-Tournament team.

 

The team showed continued improvement throughout the course of the season, winning seven of their final 12 games, including six of their last nine. Despite the loss of six seniors, the future for the program is bright.

 

 

The 28^th Annual John Konstantinos Academic Honors Luncheon is set to take place on April 19 in the Wolstein Center.

 

A record 250 student-athletes will be honored from having a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher. Many of the honorees will be accompanied by parents or members of the Cleveland State University faculty or staff as special guests.

 

In addition, several special academic awards will be presented at the luncheon.

 

 

Head men's lacrosse coach Dylan Sheridan was recently appointed to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Board of Directors. He is the lone Division I coach on the Board.

 

The USILA is an organization comprised of member colleges and Universities that sponsor intercollegiate lacrosse for men. Founded in 1885, the Association is entrusted to enhance and develop intercollegiate lacrosse by providing leadership, management and services to its membership. The USILA has selected All-America teams for decades and started the USILA Scholar All-America Program in the 1980s. The organization also sponsors national polls and annual senior all-star games at all NCAA divisions.

 

Sheridan was named the inaugural head coach at CSU in June of 2015 and has built the program from scratch.

 

 

The following student-athletes earned honors in February…

 

Tyree Appleby

 

Tyree Appleby & Kenny Carpenter

 

Ashanti Abshaw & Khayla Livingston

 

Shadae Bosely

 

Paul Graham

 

Molly McNamara

 

Samantha Butterbaugh

 

DJ Arslanian

Macjilton Lewis

Sean Mulvin

Curtis Roden

Jared Stergar

Tyler Stevenson

Grant Wethington

Morgan Massie

Molly McNamara

Cassandra Oltman

Jamie VanDewerker

Claudia Zido

 

Gaby Schoenberg – Women's Tennis

Aleksandra Golawska – Women's Tennis

Isabella Spindler – Women's Tennis

Luke Phillips – Men's Tennis

Riley Ries – Softball

Mackenzie Joecken - Softball