Feb. 25, 2011
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Contact: Dan Carr
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Several Vikings entered their names in the Cleveland State all-time record book with great times in the third day of the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships on Friday (Feb. 25).
"The team really battled today, every bit of the way," head coach Wally Morton said. "We had several people step up, we had nearly everybody get personal best times and we had a couple very close races in the finals."
Friday's action included several close finishes, with the 100 breaststroke and 400 IM races coming down to the wire.
Senior Deni Gasparin, racing for one of the last times as a Viking, took second in the 100 breast, finishing in 55.26. It was just .15 short of Green Bay's Jason Askew, who won the event in 55.11. Gasparin's time qualifies as an NCAA Division I 'B' cut, meaning if not enough Division I swimmers make 'A' cuts, he could have a chance to swim in the national championships.
Brian Ferro also raced in the 100 breast, taking fourth in 56.77. The time ranks as the ninth best in CSU history, replacing Gabriel Linton's 57.12 mark set in 2002.
Justin Kermack also took home a second place finish, turning in his personal best time in the 400 IM race. Kermack finished in 3:59.05, behind Luke Martinez of UIC (3:55.22). Kermack's time moves the freshman into third on the school's all-time chart, just ahead of current assistant coach and former CSU swimmer Andrew Hancock's 3:59.20 time set in 2003.
Alex Cohara also qualified for the finals in the 400 IM, taking eighth in 4:06.26. The sophomore made the cut for the finals with a time of 4:05.35, the ninth-best ever by a Viking swimmer.
Alex Lewis also entered the school record list with one of the best performances ever by a Cleveland State swimmer in the 100 butterfly. His time in the finals (49.30) was good for fifth place, but his qualifying time of 48.96 puts him in fourth on the CSU all-time list. Berry Thompson also made the record book, as his 49.59 qualifying time is now the 10th best ever. Thompson went on to place eighth in the finals (49.98).
The Vikings' best all-around event on Friday was the 100 backstroke. CSU had two swimmers qualify for the finals and three more score points in the consolation round.
Alasdair Shillito had the best finish in the 100 back, coming in sixth with a time of 50.95. Zvonimir Androic placed eighth (51.09). Shillito's time is the 10th best in school history, beating out Ryan Kuhlmey's 51.42 mark recorded in 2000.
Ryan Blankenship (14th overall, finishing in 53.11), Justin Hill (11th, 52.39) and Colin Hanner (10th, 52.18) each qualified for the consolation finals.
The Vikings also swam in the 800 freestyle relay and the 200 freestyle. The CSU team of Thompson, Shillito, Graham Thoresen and Mark de Swardt finished the 800 free relay in fourth (6:45.53). Shillito (10th, 1:41.77), Mike Marsico (14th, 1:43.34) and Mike Mulvin (15th, 1:43.50) each scored points in the consolation round for CSU.
"We had a lot of great performances in a lot of different areas with our men's team," Morton said.
CSU ended the third day of competition at the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships in third place with a team score of 470.5. The team trails UIC (538) and Milwaukee (537.5) and is ahead of Wright State (348), Green Bay (299) and Valparaiso (88).
"It's a three-time race for first," Morton said. "We're certainly not out of the chase in any way, and they've just got to have a great last day."
The conference championships will conclude on Saturday (Feb. 26). The swimming preliminaries will begin at 10:00 a.m, the diving preliminaries will follow at 1:30 p.m. and the finals for each event will start at 5:30 p.m.
