CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland State University men's and women's swimming & diving teams resume competitive action this weekend by welcoming a trio of Horizon League schools across two days of action.
The Vikings welcome new League foe IUPUI and old League rival UIC for a tri-dual Friday, Jan. 12. Those three schools will be joined by Wright State Saturday, Jan. 13, for a quad dual. Dual scoring will be used throughout the weekend with the results and scores recorded on Friday not carrying over to Saturday.
Friday's action will get underway at 6:00 p.m. while competition on Saturday will begin at 1:00 p.m. Listings of the order of events are available at the bottom of this article. It is anticipated that one heat of swimming events will be used Friday and two heats of most swimming events will be run Saturday.
Live results from the meet will be available on the Meet Mobile app ($). Also, updates will be provided on Twitter @Viking_SwimDive (twitter.com/Viking_SwimDive).
Saturday's meet also represents the final regular-season home action for the CSU programs this season, and all Viking seniors will be recognized in a pre-meet ceremony beginning around 12:45 p.m.
The CSU men are coming off another winning effort last time out, taking down Ashland in their final action of the first semester. Eight different Viking men posted first-place finishes in the dual with the Eagles with sophomore D.J. Arslanian leading the way. Arslanian won the 200 butterfly and 100 freestyle and subsequently earned weekly honors from the League and CollegeSwimming. Arslanian sits among the top five in the League this season in both butterfly events while junior Jason van der Touw is among the top six in the League in four events.
The Viking women earned their third straight dual win last time out, defeating Ashland on the road in December. Nine different CSU women won events with freshman Lexie Kostelnik and junior Molly McNamara both winning a pair of individual swimming events. Kostelnik subsequently earned weekly honors from the League while McNamara continues to hold the fastest times in the League this season in both butterfly events. Sophomore Gabriella Marinelli sits among the top three in the League this season in both the 100 and 200 freestyle.
The CSU men have won dual meets against UIC in 14 of the past 16 seasons, with its only losses in that time frame coming on the road. Cleveland State claimed a thrilling one-point win a season ago in Chicago. The Viking women are 5-3 in their past eight duals against the Flames but dropped a 176-124 decision on the road last season.
Both UIC programs enter off a long break, having not swam competitively since the weekend before Thanksgiving. The men's program owns a 3-3 mark in duals with a win over Milwaukee and losses to Green Bay and Oakland. The women's squad is 5-3 with two of its three losses coming to Big Ten foes. The UIC women have beaten fellow League members Green Bay and Milwaukee this season.
Both CSU programs will be looking to avenge losses to Wright State from last season. Despite last season's loss, the CSU men are still 5-2 in duals against the Raiders over the last seven seasons while the Viking women are 3-4 over the same span.
Wright State joins UIC in not having competed since the middle of November. The WSU men have taken down IUPUI and Milwaukee this season while the women's program lost to both of those foes.
Neither CSU program has faced IUPUI within the past decade.
The Jaguars are the only team competing this weekend to have swum recently, as they hosted a trio of schools last Friday. Both programs defeated Ball State, and the men's squad also knocked off Xavier. The Jaguar men are 4-4 on the season, losing by a single point to Oakland, while the women are also 4-4.
After taking next weekend off, Cleveland State will close the month of January at Oakland in dual action.
Order of Events – vs. IUPUI & UIC
Friday, Jan. 12
3-meter Diving
400 Medley Relay
1000 Freestyle
200 Freestyle
100 Backstroke
100 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
50 Freestyle
1-meter Diving
100 Freestyle
200 Backstroke
200 Breaststroke
500 Freestyle
100 Butterfly
Break
200 IM
200 Free Relay
Order of Events – vs. IUPUI, UIC & Wright State
Saturday, Jan. 13
3-meter Diving
200 Medley Relay
1000 Freestyle
200 Freestyle
100 Backstroke
100 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
50 Freestyle
1-meter Diving
100 Freestyle
200 Backstroke
200 Breaststroke
500 Freestyle
100 Butterfly
Break
400 IM
400 Free Relay