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Six Swimmers Named Academic All-League

Six Swimmers Named Academic All-League
Posted: Apr 19, 2011

April 19, 2011

Complete List of Winter Academic All-League Selections Get Acrobat Reader

Contact: Dan Carr

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Four members of the women's swimming and diving team and two members of the men's team were named to the Horizon League's Winter Academic All-League Teams. Carys Behn (Westville, South Africa), Kacey Cummings (Farmington Hills, Mich.), Joanna Olsson (Stockholm, Sweden) and Alice Sommerville (Methven, New Zealand) were chosen from the women's team while Matt DiMasso (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Graham Thoresen (McFarland, Wis.) were selected to represent the men's team.

"The goal of our team is [for our members] to truly be not only great students, though that is our first priority, but to also be great athletes," head coach Wally Morton said. "All six of these student-athletes represent excellence in both the pool and the classroom, and I am very pleased their performances have been recognized."

Behn finished the season with one of the best individual performances ever at the Horizon League Championships, going undefeated and breaking six league records to earn performer of the meet honors. The winner of 12 individual races this season, Behn also set six Cleveland State records and finished with the league's top time in the 200 free (1:50.59) and second-best times in the 50 free (23.81), 100 free (51.66) and 500 free (4:56.92). Behn is a junior communication major and has a 3.74 GPA.

Cummings, a junior, also finished the season with Horizon League honors, being named the conference diver of the year after winning 12 events, including the 1-meter dive at the Horizon League Championships. She earned diver of the week kudos four times during the regular season, including a stretch of three consecutive weeks from Jan. 18-31. An environmental science major with a 3.50 GPA, Cummings qualified to compete at the NCAA Zone Championships after posting a 281.70 score in the 1-meter dive (the best score of the season by anyone in the Horizon League) and a 296.00 score in the 3-meter dive (third-best in the conference).

A communication major, Olsson had a record-setting sophomore campaign, breaking six school and four conference records in 2010-11. The winner of 23 races, Olsson owned the league's best times this year in the 500 free (4:53.56), 200 IM (2:04.86), 400 IM (4:20.09) and 200 fly (2:04.16), qualifying to compete in the USA Swimming National Championships in the latter two events. Olsson has a 3.61 GPA.

Sommerville, a sophomore civil engineering major with a 3.48 GPA, also had a record-breaking season, helping three relay teams to set new league marks at the Horizon League Championships. She also broke seven CSU records in 2010-11 and finished with the best times in the league in the 50 free (23.39), 100 free (51.60) and 100 fly (55.75). Other highlights for Sommerville this year include winning 30 races, qualifying to compete at the USA Swimming National Championships and earning Top Point Scorer of the Meet honors at the Northwestern TYR Invitational.

The four CSU swimmers selected to the women's team represents a league-high, with Youngstown State coming second with three swimmers earning recognition.

A junior political science major with a 3.90 GPA, DiMasso was named the Horizon League Diver of the Week for the week of Nov. 29 after winning the 3-meter dive with a score of 283.60 at the City College Meet on Nov. 30. He placed fifth in that event at the Horizon League Championships.

Thoresen was one of the team's best distance swimmers this past season, finishing with the league's third-best time in the 1,000 free (9:38.08) and fourth best time in the 500 free (4:36.59) while winning four races. The sophomore's times in both events rank as the seventh-best in Cleveland State history. Thoresen is majoring in mechanical engineering and has a 3.27 GPA.

"All six athletes are in challenging majors," Morton said. "It's amazing that they can do so well in both academics and athletic competition."

The Horizon League recognizes student-athletes with seasonal Academic All-League Teams in each of its 19 championship sports. To be eligible for Academic All-Horizon League consideration, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade-point-average of 3.20 or higher (based on a 4.00 scale) and have completed at least one year at the member institution, having earned 24 semester-hour or 36 quarter-hour credits.