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Vikings Host Duquesne, Saint Francis And Xavier On Saturday

Vikings Host Duquesne, Saint Francis And Xavier On Saturday

Jan. 13, 2005

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Setting The Scene: After spending the past week and a half training in Biscayne Bay, Fla., the Cleveland State men's and women's swim teams return to the shores of Lake Erie to host Duquesne, Xavier and the Saint Francis (Pa.) women's team at Busbey Natatorium for their first dual meets of the new year. The meet, beginning at 1:00 p.m., will be swum as a double-dual meet for the men's team and a triple-dual meet for the women's.

Have A Nice Fall: The Vikings completed the fall portion of the 2004-05 season posting some of the best times in the Horizon League. The women's team currently has 16 top-five individual times, including bests by Samantha Jones (100 back, 200 back & 200 IM), Kirsty McKechnie (500 free & 1,000 free) and Marianne Lionell (50 free). CSU also holds top marks in the 400 free relay and 800 free relay. The men's squad touts 27 top-five times of their own, with Luke Wilkens holding three best marks (500 free, 100 fly & 200 fly), Bjorn Schantz with three (200 free, 1,000 free & 1,650 free) and Pieter Pelser with two (100 back & 200 back). In fact, the Viking men's team has four swimmers in the top five in the 500 freestyle and three in the 200 free, 1,650 free and 100 fly. Additionally, CSU holds top marks marks in the 800 freestyle relay as well as the 200 and 400 medley relays.

Canisius Added To Slate: The Jan. 28 dual meet with the Notre Dame men's team will now become a tri-meet with the addition of the Canisius men's team to the event. The meet is still scheduled for 5:00 p.m. in Busbey Natatorium.

Keeping Up With Jones: Senior Samantha Jones has been one of the top female swimmers in the Horizon League for the past three seasons. This year has been no exception, as the Pietermartizburg, South Africa native holds league best times in three events, including the 100 back, 200 back and the 200 IM. She also has garnered swimmer of the week honors twice (11/9 & 12/7).

What Sophomore Jinx?:Sophomore Marianne Lionell began her collegiate career at Cleveland State with a flurry last season, shattering long-standing school records in the 50 freestyle (23.86), 100 breaststroke (1:04.98) and 200 breaststroke (2:22.72) in addition to placing fourth all-time in the 100 freestyle (53.01). This year, the Sodertalje, Sweden native seems to have thwarted any indications of a sophomore slump, continuing to challenge her first-year times at every meet. She has already improved upon her 100 freestyle time (53.00) and has approached her top marks in the 50 free (24.31), 100 breast (1:06.15) and 200 breast (2:23.05). Her 50 and 100 free marks, as well as her 100 breast time, are season-bests in the Horizon League to date.

Pelser And Wilkens, Again: Just by glancing down the Horizon League top times, two names always seem to appear near or at the top of just about every list: Pieter Pelser and Luke Wilkens. The South African tandem holds a total of seven top-five times between them. Pelser is atop the standings in both the 100 back (49.71) and 200 back (1:47.84), while Wilkens leads all league swimmers in the 500 freestyle (4:31.99), 100 butterfly (49.33) and 200 butterfly (1:51.18). Additionally, Pelser's top marks in both backstroke events broke his own school records set a year ago.

Morton Goes From 199 To 202: It seems fitting that a head coach with 199 wins to his credit would not be content to win just one more for an even 200, but men's head coach Wally Morton never really had the chance. On Nov. 15, the 24th-year CSU mentor actually jumped from 199 career-dual meet victories to 202 before the night was through by topping Baldwin-Wallace, Gannon and John Carroll in the City College Meet in Busbey Natatorium. With competitors from each team swimming in every heat, the triple dual-meet was not officially scored until the very end, giving CSU three victories simultaneously. So if the question gets asked "who did coach Morton get his 200th win against?", one answer is as good as any.

Out With The Old, In With The Newcomers: Men's head coach Wally Morton had quite a task at hand following last season. After losing 11 swimmers to graduation last year, including two-time Horizon League Swimmer of the Year Warren Vickers, Morton brought in 12 talented newcomers to carry the burden left by the departing veterans, and they have delivered. Sophomore Bjorn Schantz currently leads the Horizon League in the 200 freestyle (1:41.60), 1,000 freestyle (9:27.19) and 1,650 free (16:02.39) and was named the league's men's swimmer of the week on Nov. 16. In fact, six Viking newcomers hold a total of 21 top-ten Horizon League times or scores this season, including:

Name Event HL Rank Time/Score
Dan Baiko 1m diving 7th 213.15
3m diving 10th 179.25
Dave Duecker 400 IM 2nd 4:11.27
200 breast 4th 2:08.57
200 IM 5th 1:57.31
200 fly 6th 1:56.51
100 breast 6th 1:00.28
Khaled Elgamal 1,650 free 3rd 16:28.27
1,000 free 4th 9:45.69
500 free 5th 4:41.56
400 IM 8th 4:18.53
Brady Lusk 1,650 free 5th 16:59.04
1,000 free 8th 10:02.04
500 free 10th 4:49.78
Johan Norling 100 fly 2nd 50.29
100 free 3rd 46.54
50 free 4th 21.13
Bjorn Schantz 200 free 1st 1:41.60
1,000 free 1st 9:27.19
1,650 free 1st 16:02.39
500 free 2nd 4:34.25

Better Lehto Than Never: Women's head coach Mike Lehto is in his 11th season with Cleveland State, compiling a 69-73 career record as the winningest Vikings' mentor in history. Last season, Lehto guided the squad to its third-straight season at .500 or better, compiling a 7-6 dual meet mark. Under his guidance, the Vikings broke six school records, won two Horizon League Championship events and featured the school's first league newcomer of the year (Marianne Lionell) since 1999. With every top swimmer from last season returning, this year has the potential to be one of the program's finest. "This could be the most talented team that I've coached during my tenure here," Lehto commented. "We have to continue to work hard in practice and remain focused throughout the year so that, when the championship rolls around, we will be swimming at our best."

Wally World: Cleveland State men's swimming has certainly become synonymous with head coach Wally Morton. Morton currently holds a 202-120-1 career record after passing 200 dual meet victories against Baldwin-Wallace, Gannon and John Carroll earlier this season. He has to his credit nine Penn-Ohio Championships, a pair of MCC titles and 21 winning seasons. Morton led the Vikings to their third-straight 11-win season in 2003-04, while CSU swimmers claimed nine titles in the Horizon League Championship. In his fourth and final year under Morton, Warren Vickers was named the league's Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Year for the second straight season. Additionally, Chris Jones was named diver of the meet in his senior season, while diving coach Rich Karban was tabbed as Diving Coach of the Year.

Next Up For The Vikings: Men's head coach Wally Morton leads his squad to his alma mater on Jan. 22 when the Vikings battle Miami (Ohio) in Oxford beginning at 1:00 p.m. The men's team then returns to Busbey Natatorium on Jan. 28 to host Notre Dame and Canisius starting at 5:00 p.m. The women's team will not see action until the Valparaiso men's and women's teams come to town the next day (Jan. 29), with the meet starting at 2:00 p.m. in Busbey Natatorium.