Feb. 25, 2009
BROWN DEER, Wis. - -
Contact: Julie Farr DeLima
The Cleveland State University Vikings kicked off the opening day of the Horizon League Championships with a win, two school records and a Horizon League Championship record. And that was just in the first event.
By the end of Day One, CSU had recorded three Horizon League Championship records, three school records and two NCAA "B" cut qualifying times. Three events into the meet, the Vikings sit in 2nd place (111), two points behind UIC. They are vying for their fourth Horizon League title, and their second in the last four seasons.
"Our men had some incredibly impressive performances today. Just great, great swims," head coach Wally Morton said. "I think we're off to a good start and we're hanging in well after the first day."
To open the meet, Jakub Dobies, Stephen Grove, Keith Everhart and Mike Marsico set a new Horizon League and CSU record with a victory in the 200 free relay. The group finished in 1:19.50, an NCAA "B" qualifying time, breaking the championship record of 1:20.80 set by UIC in 2005. Dobies led off the race with a new school record leg of 20.18, breaking CSU's 50 free mark of 20.41 set by Grove in 2008. CSU's previous relay record of 1:21.35 was also set on the first day of the 2008 meet.
Mark deSwardt entered the meet with the league's best time and its regular season record in the 1,000 freestyle (9:05.64). Undefeated in the event during 10 dual meets this season, he kept his streak alive and shattered the league championship record with a winning time of 9:08.64, just off his school record pace and eight seconds ahead of second place. deSwardt's new Horizon League meet record broke the mark of 9:17.93 set by former CSU swimmer Bjorn Schantz in 2006. The Vikings also got solid performances from Pieter Ritz (9:37.65, 8th) and Colin Hanner (9:57.83, 17th), both of whom swam their fastest times of the season. It was the second time this season that three CSU swimmers recorded sub-10 minute times.
The men's final event of the day saw the Vikings eclipse another school and Horizon League record. Todd Winchell, Dobies, Grove and Marsico swam a 1:27.58 to win the event and record an NCAA "B" cut time. The bettered the league's regular season and league championship record set by a season ago (1:29.80).
"I think we're off to a good start but we have to build on those results," Morton said. "I was excited by everyone's swims but we've got three full days of swimming left. It's just the beginning but it's an exciting start with some very exciting accomplishments."
The Horizon League Championships continue Thursday through Saturday. Thursday's events include the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, 400 medley relay and men's 1-meter diving events. Preliminary swimming heats begin at 10:30 a.m. with preliminary diving starting at 1:30 p.m. Final events begin at 6:30 p.m. Central time. On-demand videos of the final heats as well as live blogs are available off the Horizon League website (www.horizonleague.org).
