April 17, 2007

Contact: Josh Rattray

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland State men's swimmers Joe Badziong, Bjorn Schnatz, Nedim Nisic and Stef Potgieter have been named to the Horizon League All-Academic team. Each of the four swimmers, who keyed CSU's second place finish at the league championships, was among the 18 men's swimmers honored. The league made the announcement on Tuesday (April 17).

"I'm always proud when our swimmers and divers combine athletic excellence with a great performance in the classroom," head swim coach Wally Morton said. "All four of these student-athletes are not only great students, but they are among the best swimmers in our conference."

Badziong, a senior accounting major with a 3.32 GPA, was one of the team's co-captains and was named the John McClendon Award winner at Cleveland State's Athletic Academic Honors Luncheon last Thursday. The Parma, Ohio native notched a fifth place finish in the 200 back while finishing 11^th in the 1,000 and 12th in the 500 freestyles at the league championships.

Schantz, a senior who owns a 3.89 GPA in international business, was among the Horizon League's top freestyle swimmers during his four-year career at CSU, claiming 2006 Athlete of the Year honors after leading the Vikings to the title as a junior. The Loddekopinge, Sweden native posted second place finishes in the 200 and 500 freestyles at the league championships while adding a third place swim in the 1,000 free and swimming the lead leg of the 800 free relay. Schantz was named Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the Week five times during the course of the season, the highest total in the league.

Nisic, an international business major with a 3.4 GPA, was one of the top backstroke and butterfly swimmers in the league, placing second in both the 100 fly and 100 back at the league championships while also swimming the league leg of CSU's championships 200 and 400 medley relay teams. The sophomore from Tuzia, Bosnia and Herzegovina native also added a sixth place swim in the 200 fly.

Potigieter, a sophomore communication major who owns a 3.33 GPA, swam to second place finishes in the 100 and 200 breast and ninth in the 200 IM. The Sasolborg, South Africa native was the league leader in both breaststroke events all throughout the fall until the Vikings added freshman Jakub Dobies in January, who set two league records en route to a 28^th place finish at the NCAA Swim Championships.

A total of 82 student-athletes from six sports (men's and women's basketball, men's and women's swimming and men's and women's indoor track & field) were honored in balloting by each of the nine league schools' faculty athletic representatives and sports information offices.