Feb. 28, 2004
CHICAGO - Three members of the Cleveland State swimming and diving team were awarded Horizon League honors following the conclusion of the 2004 Horizon League Championships late this evening in Chicago. Senior Warren Vickers was named the league's Swimmer of the Year, while diver Chris Jones won Diver of the Year. For the women, freshman Marianne Lionell was named the league's Newcomer of the Year. In addition, first-year diving coach Rich Karban was named the men's Diving Coach of the Year. The awards follow the finish of the 2004 league championships, where the men finished third out of six teams and the women fifth out of seven.
In the final day of competition on Saturday, Vickers finished second in the 100 freestyle in 45.14. That went along with his wins in the 200 individual medley and the 200 freestyle earlier in the week. Vickers won the league's Swimmer of the Meet award last year after sweeping all three events.
Jones won the men's 1m diving title to go along with his second-place finish on 3m on Thursday. Saturday on 1m, he scored 297.75 points to take first.
Lionell, meanwhile, finished second in the 200 breaststroke in 2:22.84. The second-place finish on Saturday and her title in the 100 breaststroke on Friday and fourth-place finish in the 50 freestyle on Thursday helped her to win the league's top newcomer award.
Pieter Pelser picked up another win for Cleveland State, taking top honors in the 100 backstroke in 1:48.70. Todd Hostutler added a third-place finish in that event, posting a time of 1:51.52. Lyle Wilkens joined Vickers in a top-eight finish in the 100 freestyle, finishing fifth in 46.16. Gabriel Linton took third in the 200 breaststroke in 2:06.04, while Daniel Thomasson and Marco Markgraaff each placed in the top eight in the men's 1650 freestyle. Thomasson was third in 16:07.91, while Markgraaff placed eighth in 16:41.45. Luke Wilkens added a second-place finish in the 200 butterfly in 1:49.14, and combined with Vickers, Thomasson and his brother, Lyle, to help the 400 freestyle relay team to a second-place tie with UIC in 3:01.99.
In the women's meet, Samantha Jones took second in the 100 backstroke and was joined by Wendy Peel in the championship final in that event. Jones finished in 2:03.91, while Peel was sixth in 2:07.80. Tina Abbott would also take fifth place in the women's 1650 freestyle in 17:48.17. The women's 400 freestyle relay of Lionell, Kirsty McKechnie, Marlene Przykling and Jones finished out the meet with a fifth-place finish in 3:35.68.
Wright State took first place in both the men's and the women's meets. The Raiders scored 802.5 points on the women's side, outdistancing UW-Green Bay's 783. UW-Milwaukee was third with 676 points, followed by UIC with 429.5, Cleveland State with 339, Youngstown State with 273 and Butler with 233. In the men's meet, the Raiders scored 778 points, easily ahead of UW-Green Bay's 711. Cleveland State finished third with 673 points, followed by UIC wiht 526, UW-Milwaukee with 494 and Butler with 244.
2004 Horizon League Championships Awards
Men's Swimmer of the Meet:
Zach Hansen, UW-Green Bay
Women's Swimmer of the Meet:
Julie Coghlan, Wright State
Men's Diver of the Meet:
Chris Jones, Cleveland State
Women's Diver of the Meet:
Kalyn Leveto, Youngstown State
Men's Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Year:
Warren Vickers, Cleveland State
Women's Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Year:
Jackie Dexter, Wright State
Men's Newcomer of the Year:
Rafael Candido, Wright State
Women's Newcomer of the Year:
Marianne Lionell, Cleveland State
Men's Swimming Coach of the Year:
Matt Liddy, Wright State
Women's Swimming Coach of the Year:
Matt Liddy, Wright State
Men's Diving Coach of the Year:
Rich Karban, Cleveland State
Women's Diving Coach of the Year:
Nick Gavolas, Youngstown State
