March 1, 2009
BROWN DEER, Wis. - -
Contact: Julie Farr DeLima
The Cleveland State University Vikings wrapped up the 2009 Horizon League Championships with a fourth-place finish (612 points) but it was freshman Mark deSwardt who drew the most attention on the final day. deSwardt won all three of his individual events and swept the post-season honors, earning the league's awards for Swimmer of the Championship Meet, Athlete of the Year and Newcomer of the Year. It was the first time in Horizon League history that one swimmer has won all three honors.
In the final day of competition, the Vikings tallied three school records, two Horizon League and two Horizon League Championship record, once NCAA "B" cut time and nine new additions to CSU's all-time Top-10 list in the final day. UIC won its first-ever Horizon League Championship with 703 points followed by Wright State (685) and Milwaukee (647). Green Bay (583) and Valparaiso (183) rounded out the scoring.
"We were very excited about our performances and there were many highlights this week," head coach Wally Morton said. "We had five NCAA "B" cuts, which might be the most of any other team in the meet, so we have a lot to build around as we continue to improve our program."
Even with all the great performances, it was easy for Morton to zero in on the most impressive.
"Without question, our performance of the meet came from Jakub Dobies," Morton said. "He will go to NCAA Championships with the intent to make the final eight and win the 100 breast. His school record time of 52.94 was by far the performance of the meet."
During the event, Cleveland State swimmers set a total of 10 school records including Dobies in the 100 free (44.53) and 100 breast (52.94); deSwardt in the 1,000 free (9:01.46) and 1,650 free (15:02.06); and Stephen Grove in the 50 free (20.09) and 100 fly (48.60). Four relay teams also set new records including the 200 free relay (1:19.50) of Dobies, Grove, Keith Everhart and Mike Marsico; the 400 free relay (3:00.45) of Dobies, Grove, Nedim Nisic and Marsico; the 200 medley relay (1:27.58) of Todd Winchell, Dobies, Grove and Marisco; and the 400 medley relay (3:16.72) of Winchell, Dobies, Grove and Marsico.
On the final day, deSwardt wasted little time getting the Vikings started on a good note during the mile swim. The freshman won his third individual title in four days, shattering a handful of records in the process. In addition to an NCAA "B" cut time of 15:02.06, deSwardt shattered three 1,650 free records, all by Henk Markgraaff - the CSU record of 15:19.07 (1999), the Horizon League regular season record of 15:32.09 (1997) and the Horizon League Championship record of 15:19.07 (1997). At the 1,000 yard point, deSwardt's time of 9:01.46 was also good enough for new CSU and Horizon League records. His new time broke his old record CSU and Horizon League regular season record time of 9:05.64 set on Jan. 24 and also broke the Horizon League Championship mark he set on Wednesday (9:08.01).
"Mark had the greatest distance swim in the history of the Horizon League with his mile swim. It was just phenomenal," Morton said.
Not to be overlooked, CSU's Pieter Ritz finished strong in the mile with his season-best time of 16:11.73 for a seventh-place finish.
During the 200 back, the Vikings had two Top-10 finishers in Colin Hanner and Zvonimir Androic and both picked up new all-time Top-10 times. Hanner finished third in the event with a time of 1:50.97 after swimming the sixth-fastest time in school history during his preliminary heat (1:50.80). Androic, swimming in the "B" final, finished ninth in 1:48.87, the second-fastest time in school history. Derek Butts also finished in his fastest time of the season (2:02.84, 17th) during his preliminary swim.
CSU kept fighting for one of the league's top spots during the 100 free as four Vikings finished in the Top-15. Dobies set a new school record with a swim of 44.53 in a third-place finish. Behind Dobies, Nisic swam the fifth-fastest time in school history to finish ninth while Grove's season-best time of 45.82 was good for 11th place. Marsico finished 14th overall with a time of 46.42 after tying the 10th-fastest time in school history during his preliminary heat (45.97). Everhart also swam a season-best time of 46.47 during the preliminaries to finish 18th.
The Vikings picked up their second victory of the night in the 200 breast as Deni Gasparin swam his season-best time of 2:01.09 to repeat as the champion. Marko Milenkovic finished fourth, swimming the fourth-fastest time in school history, 2:02.42.
"Deni's win in 200 breast was an outstanding achievement and he did it in a gutsy way," Morton said. "He went after it early and hung on for the win. It was a great performance".
In the 200 fly, all three of CSU's swimmers recorded their season-best times. Androic led the way with an 11th-place finish (1:53.08) followed by Volkmar Baur in 14th (1:55.75). During his preliminary race, Travis Lombardozzi swam a 1:58.84 for 17th place.
The Vikings took advantage of the final event to set a new school record in the 400 free relay. Dobies (45.13), Grove (45.03), Nisic (44.89) and Marsico (45.40) finished in 3:00.45 to take fourth place.
CSU's diver, Matt DiMasso completed his first Horizon League Championships with the 3-meter event. After finishing eighth in the finals of the 1-meter event, DiMasso took 11th in the 3-meter diving with 192.70 points.
Up next, the Viking men will participate in the Ohio State Last Chance Meet on March 9, giving some of its top swimmers a chance to better their times and qualify for the NCAA Division I Championships. The NCAA qualifiers are expected to be announced on March 9 with several CSU swimmers among the list of possibly qualifiers including -Dobies, Gasparin, deSwardt and both the 200 free and 200 medley relay teams.
