Dec. 2, 2001

Akron, OH - With a day's worth of events ahead, the men's swimming and diving team (1,063 points) sits in third place behind Clarion (1,236.50) and St. Bonaventure (1,153). Led by co-captain Gustavo Barrios (Panama City, Panama/Kiski School), the Vikings racked up three first-place and three second-place finishes in the first two days of competition.

Barrios grabbed a second in the 100-yard butterfly (:50.87) and a third in the 50-yard freestyle (:21.13). The Cleveland State senior also swam on the first-place 200-yard freestyle relay (1:24.10) with freshman Cleveland Brown V (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Shaker Heights), junior Brett Thomas (Berea, Ohio/Berea) and sophomore Warren Vickers (Durban, South Africa/Durban).

CSU nailed down two individual firsts as well, with Vickers taking the 200-yard IM (1:54.41) and junior Thiago Lazarini (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Universitario) edging out teammate Andrew Hancock (Cambridge, Australia/St. Mary's Senior) in the 500-yard freestyle. Lazarini's time of 4:39.58 was more than five seconds faster than his previous best this season in the 500 free. Hancock, a junior, bettered his best time by more than nine seconds while swimming a 4:40.03.

Sophomore diver Chris Jones (Brookpark, Ohio/Berea) continues to dive well for the Vikings. His score of 440.50 earned him second-place in Akron.

The team will spend the holidays training for the second half of the season. The Vikings compete next on January 17 at 5:00 p.m. when they host Xavier and Duquesne.