Contact: Jeff Sattora
South Bend, IN- The Cleveland State Vikings men's and women's swimming teams both had solid showings Friday night, as they competed at the Dennis Stark Relays at the University of Notre Dame
With the event being an unconventional one, with each event being a relay, it was a nice chance for the team's to see what they had in some different events, and Head Coach Wally Morton was pleased with the what he saw.
"I was happy with the preparation, I was happy with the way they warmed up, the way they prepared," said Morton following the meet. "I was very pleased with the effort, I didn't see anybody back off in any way."
That effort and preparation eventually led to a second place finish for the women's team and third place finish by the men, with Norte Dame winning both.
Looking at individual events, both the women and men were able to place in the top three in multiple races.
Alice Sommerville, Christine Kopacko, Gretchen Hestley, and Alexandra Johansson started the meet off strong for the Viking women, placing third in the first event of the day, the 200-yard freestyle relay.
The men's 200-yard freestyle relay team of Alex Lewis, Nathan Grant, Adam Ingledew, and Martin Persson also finished third to start off the meet well.
The highest finishes of the day for either team was second. With the men finishing second in one event, the 300 yard breaststroke relay, using a team made up of Brian Ferro, Nathan Grant, and Mark deSwardt.
The women on the other hand finished second in three separate races, the 300-yard butterfly relay, the 1,000-yard freestyle relay, and the 300-yard medley relay.
Despite being happy with the effort and solid showing, Morton knows that the team still has ways to keep getting better as the year goes on.
"We have a long ways to go, we realize we have to have great improvement," Morton said. "I think there are many things we have to work on but if the effort is there and the concentration is there we'll get better."
"That's our expectation and I believe we'll reach our goal doing that," he added.
The Vikings next chance to get better will be next weekend as the team takes on Valparaiso Friday, followed by Green Bay Saturday, both on the road.
