Feb. 27, 2009
BROWN DEER, Wis. - -
Contact: Julie Farr DeLima
The Cleveland State University Vikings had a productive third day at the 2009 Horizon League Championships. On Friday the team set two school records, one Horizon League record, hit two NCAA "B" cut qualifying times and saw five new all-time Top-10 times recorded. After Day Three of the four-day event, the Vikings are in third place with 441 points.
"We had some really outstanding performances today and are in a good spot heading into the final day of competition," head coach Wally Morton said.
Volkmar Baur got things started with a 15th place finish in the 400 IM. Baur swam his fastest time of the season, 4:15.15, during the race.
The Vikings set their first of two school records on the night in the 100 fly as Stephen Grove posted a victory in 48.60. Todd Winchell finished 4th overall with a time of 48.83. Travis Lombardozzi and Nedim Nisic also swam their fastest times of the season to finish 10th and 11th, respectively. Lombardozzi finished in 50.37 while Nisic touched in 50.43.
Mike Marsico picked up a 15th place finish in the 200 free (1:44.80) after swimming his fastest time of the season during the preliminaries (1:44.07). Keith Everhart's 1:47.52 (18th) preliminary swim was also his fastest of the season.
The Vikings wasted little time in showing their strength in the 100 breast, recording the top two finishes and two NCAA "B" cut performances. Jakub Dobies won the event for the third straight year with a time of 52.94, setting a new Horizon League record. His preliminary time of 53.70 was also a new Horizon League mark while his 52.94 just missed the automatic qualifying mark of 52.87. With the victory, Dobies became just the sixth Viking to win the same event three times. Deni Gasparin finished second in "B" cut time, touching in 54.46. Marko Milenkovic was fourth in 56.44.
"Jakub Dobies has the best swim of the meet by far, finishing the 100 breast very close to an NCAA automatic qualifying time. He has an excellent chance to go to the NCAA Championships for a third straight year. The 100 breast was a great event for us today with Deni Gasparin finishing in "B" cut time and Milenkovic also finishing in the top four."
Five different swimmers competed in the 100 back, and each swam his season-best time. Nisic led the way with a second-place finish (49.60), swimming the second-fastest time in school history and just getting out-touched at the wall. Winchell was fourth (50.98) and Zvonimir Androic finished sixth (51.28). Androic's preliminary time of 51.06 was the ninth-fastest time in school history. CSU's other Top-16 finishers were Colin Hanner (52.60, 12th) and Derek Butts (54.67, 16th).
The Vikings wrapped up the night with a fifth-place finish in the 800 free relay with Mark deSwardt, Androic, Winchell and Milenkovic finishing in 6:48.52.
"Heading into the final day we're only 25 points out of first and there is a four-team fight to the finish," head coach Wally Morton said. "We're in the hunt. We always like to have a chance going in to the last day, and we certainly have a chance. We're really looking forward to tomorrow. "
The Horizon League crowns its 2009 champion tomorrow at the conclusion of the four-day event. Saturday's events include the 1,650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, 400 free relay and the men's 3-meter diving competition. 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).
