Contact: Jeff Sattora
SETTING THE SCENE: The Vikings' full squads will be back in the pool this week in collegiate competition as both the men and women will host Oakland and Xavier at home at the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
STREAKING: Both the Cleveland State men's and women's teams head into the meet Saturday on winning streaks, with neither team losing since October. Both squads have been out of the pool in collegiate competition since hosting Cleveland College Dual Meet Invitational on December 4th. The men have won five straight college meets and the women have won seven straight.
THE MEN: A variety of familiar names led the way for the Vikings at the Cleveland College Dual Meet Invitational. Senior Mark De Swardt led the way once again for CSU, picking up three victories, going a perfect three for three on the night. De Swardt first took home a win in the 1,000 freestyle in dominating fashion by 18 seconds (9:45.22), he then went on to win the 200 IM (1:55.84), and 500 freestyle (4:41.40). Junior Al Shillito and senior Berry Thompson also picked up three wins.
Shillito was also able to go a perfect three for three, with two individual wins and one relay win. In the relay he teamed up withNathan Grant, Justin Kermack, and Berry Thompson to take home first place in the 200 medley relay (1:32.71). Individually he was victorious in the 200 freestyle (1:41.81), and 100 freestyle (46.44).
Thompson was the third three-time winner, picking up a second relay win in the 200 freestyle relay teaming up with Nathan Grant,Martin Persson, and Alex Lewis (1:23.92), and also winning individually in the 50 yard freestyle (20.73).
THE WOMEN: Two Vikings' women swimmers, a freshman and a senior, led the way for the Vikings at the Dual Meet Invitational early in December. Freshman Jodi Turk had one of the best day's of her young career bringing home two wins. Both wins came in dominating fashion for the freshman as she won the 500 freestyle (5:09.49) by 12 seconds, and the 1,000 freestyle (10:32.03) by an incredible 24 seconds.
Senior Alice Sommerville also had great swims for CSU on the day, she was able to pick up three wins, two individual and one relay. Individually she won the 50-yard freestyle (23.66), and the 100 breaststroke (1:05.63). She also teamed up with Jamie Puls,Gretchen Hestley, and Christine Kopacko to win the 200 freestyle relay (1:36.94).
AWARDS ALL AROUND: Multiple Vikings have been awarded this season as Horizon League 'Swimmer of the Week' or 'Diver of the Week.' Both senior Joanna Olsson and junior Al Shillito picked up the league wide honors for the week of October 19th following their performances at Green Bay the weekend before. Each swimmer picked up three wins in the meet vs the Phoenix.
CSU also took three of the four weekly awards following performances at the Magnus Cup Invitational. On the men's side junior Al Shillito picked up his second weekly honor of the season swimming with freshman Danny Roberts picking up his first career Horizon League 'Diver of the Week' accolade. On the women's side, junior Alexandra Johansson took home her first weekly honor of the season, taking home the women's Horizon League 'Swimmer of the Week' honor following her performance at the Magnus Cup Invite.
Jumping ahead in the schedule, junior Justin Kermack earned the Horizon League's Male 'Swimmer of the Week' following his performance at the AT@T Winter National Championships in the end of November. Kermack finished sixth nationally in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:46.50. Kermack's performance also broke a Cleveland State record in the event.
NATIONAL ATTENTION: The CSU Viking men earned national recognition in November performing alongside top collegiate athletes and Olympians at the AT@T Winter National Championships in Austin, Texas. On the individual side, junior Justin Kermack finished in the top ten nationally for the second straight season in the 200 butterfly. Following a ninth place finish last season Kermack jumped up to sixth this season, while also breaking a school record at 1:46.50.
A Cleveland State relay also made a mark nationally with a seventh place finish in the 4x50 relay at the AT@T Winter National Championships this past week. The group, consisting of Berry Thompson, Jordan Hill, Alex Lewis, and Al Shillito, was the first relay in Vikings' history to race in the final championship heat at a National Championship event. Following an eighth place finish in the preliminaries the group moved up to seventh in 1:21.60 in the finals.
FAB FRESHMAN: The Cleveland State Viking freshmen seem to be mixing in seamlessly with the veteran groups on both the men's and women's squads. Two freshmen have jumped right in and are currently leading the Vikings on the diving side of things. Danny Roberts has the top 1-meter and 3-meter diving scores for the men, with Sammie Sposet doing the same for the women. In the pool for the women freshman Jodi Turk has the team's top time in the 500-yard (5:06.26) and 1,000-yard freestyle (10:26.94).
UPPERCLASSMAN LEADING THE WAY: Seniors and juniors have led the way this year on both the men's and women's sides.
On the men's side senior Berry Thompson currently has the team's top time on the year in both the 50 and 100 freestyle, and 100 butterfly. A second senior, Mark De Swardt, currently has the team's top time in both the 500 and 1,000 freestyle, as well as the 400 IM. Juniors Brian Ferro, Justin Kermack, and Al Shillito are two other swimmers that lead the team in multiple events on the young season. Ferro leads in the 50. 100, and 200 breaststroke, Kermack leads in the 200 butterfly and 200 IM, with Shillito leading in the 50, 100, and 200 backstroke, and the 200 freestyle.
Looking at the women, there have also been a variety of juniors and seniors leading the way. Senior Joanna Olsson has led the way with for the Vikings with the team's top time in the 200 and 400 IM. Three juniors, Alexandra Johansson, Alice Sommerville, and Christine Kopacko, also hold multiple top times individually as upperclassman for CSU. Johansson has the team's top time in the 50 freestyle, and 100 backstroke. Sommerville currently has the team's top time in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes. Kopacko currently has the teams' top times in the 1,650 freestyle and 50 backstroke.
RECORD-BREAKING WEEKEND: With both teams swimming strong at the first annual Magnus Cup Invitational, it's no surprise that Cleveland State school records were able to fall. Junior Al Shillito led the way for CSU, with two record-breaking performances. First Shillito set the 100 backstroke school record Friday, which he then broke again on Saturday (49.13). Sunday was also a record-breaking day for the junior as he then set the 200 backstroke record (1:47.04). The women's team wasn't left out of the record-breaking performances as two women also brought home school records. Junior Alexandra Johansson broke the school record in the 100 backstroke (55.67), while senior Alice Sommerville broke the 200 breaststroke record by two seconds in 2:19.89.
LEAGUE LEADING MEN: The Viking men's swimming team currently has multiple top times on the Horizon League leaderboards according to collegeswimming.com. The men dominate the Horizon Leagues' current rankings, leading multiple categories on collegeswimming.com. Senior Berry Thompson has the leagues' top time in the 50 and 100 yard freestyles, Mark De Swardt has the leagues' top times in the 500 and 1,000 freestyle. Al Shillito leads the leagues' backstroke categories with the top times in both the 100 and 200 backstroke. Nathan Grant has the leagues' top time in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke, with Justin Kermackleading in the 200 butterfly and 200 and 400 IM. Looking at the relays, the Vikings currently have the top times in the, the 200 freestyle relay, and the 200 and 400 medley relays.
...AND LEAGUE LEADING WOMEN: The Cleveland State women's Vikings team also has a high number of league leaders in different swimming events. Alexandra Johansson has the leagues' top times in the 50 and 100 freestyle, and 100 butterfly. On the relay side, the Vikings currently have the top times in each one listed, the 200 and 400 freestyle relays, and the 200 medley relay.
NEXT UP: The men will be back in the pool next Friday the 18th when the team hosts Notre Dame on the CSU campus at 4:00 p.m. Both the men and women will be in the pool together on Saturday the 19th when the Vikings host Wright State at 1:00 p.m. The women will also take on Youngstown State on Saturday as well.
