Feb. 25, 2005
Brown Deer, Wis. - The Cleveland State men's and women's swimming and diving teams claimed a trio of individual championships Friday (Feb. 25) night, with Samantha Jones breaking a couple of records along the way. Currently, the men's team stands in second place with a score of 460, while the women's team finds themselves in fifth with 236 points.
Jones came out with a mission on the third day of the tournament, shattering a nine-year-old Horizon League record while breaking her own school record in the 100 backstroke with a 57.03. Nicole Paplham of UW-Green Bay set the previous league mark of 57.26 in 1996.
"It was good to see her get the win as well as the record," women's head coach Mike Lehto said. "Sam was really disappointed after the 200 IM yesterday, because she felt she was not swimming at her best. She came out with something to prove today and did very well."
Jones came up just short of an individual title in the 200 IM on Thursday, claiming second in a time of 2:08.70.
The 800 freestyle relay team of Marianne Lionell, Kirsty McKechnie, Wendy Peel and Jones broke the Cleveland State record with a third-place time of 7:43.38.
Lionell tallied a fourth-place time of 1:05.90 in the 100 breaststroke, while McKechnie added a sixth-place time of 4:40.48 in the 400 IM. Peel tied a personal-best in the 100 back, swimming to a third-place B time of 59.97.
The men's team tallied a pair of individual championships. Senior Luke Wilkens swam to a league season-best time of 49.05 in the 100 fly, while freshman Johan Norling (49.42) and senior Ryan Klaus (49.79) claimed second and third, respectively.
"That was an incredibly exciting event to watch," men's head coach Wally Morton said, referring to the 100 fly. "Luke has been swimming really well."
Pieter Pelser tied his Horizon League top time in the 100 backstroke with a swift 49.71, outpacing the nearest competitor by over a second. Senior Todd Hostutler followed Pelser with a season-best 51.28 for third place, while freshman Ari Markle chipped in with a first-place B time of 52.89.
Junior Daniel Thomasson posted a sixth-place showing in the 200 free (1:44.62), and was followed by junior Adam Wroblewski in seventh (1:45.35). Senior Gabriel Linton paced the Vikings in the 100 breaststroke with a fifth-place mark of 59.12, while freshman Dave Duecker added a seventh-place time of 4:12.57 in the 400 IM.
The 800 freestyle relay team of Wilkens, Thomasson, Duecker and Bjorn Schantz closed out the night with a season-best time of 6:45.42, but came in second to Wright State.
The Raiders continues to lead the Vikings in the men's championship with a score of 562, while UW-Green Bay paces the women's teams with 555 points.
The final day of the Horizon League Championship gets underway Saturday (Feb. 26), with finals for the men's three-meter diving and women's one-meter at 4:30 p.m. EST and finals for the 1,650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly and 400 free relay beginning at 7:30 p.m. EST.
Women's Scores
UWGB 555
WSU 494
UWM 444
UIC 325
CSU 236
YSU 196
BU 107
Men's Scores
WSU 562
CSU 460
UIC 420
UWGB 383.50
UWM 304.50
BU 98
