Contact: Jeff Sattora
SETTING THE SCENE: The Vikings full squads will be back in the pool this week as CSU hosts the College Cup Dual Meet Invitational Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. The four teams alongside Cleveland State that will be competing will be Canisius, Case Western, John Carroll, and Notre Dame (Ohio).
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Cleveland State Vikings sent a record nine swimmers to the AT@T Winter National Championships, seven men and two women. Both the men and women had multiple strong swims during the week in Texas.
THE MEN: The Vikings brought a record number of seven men's swimmers to the Winter National Championships in Texas. Junior Justin Kermack led the way individually with a sixth place finish in the 200-yard butterfly, setting a school record with a time of 1:46.50. The new time broke his own school record he set last season. While multiple individuals swam well, a relay also made big news for the Vikings. The CSU 4x50 relay became the first relay in Vikings' history to make the finals of a championship heat of a National Championship event. Following an eighth place preliminaries finish, the group moved up to the seventh place finish in the finals with a time of 1:21.60.
THE WOMEN: Two Vikings' women swimmers, Alex Johansson and Alice Sommerville, joined the seven CSU men at the AT@T Winter National Championships. Johansson swam in three events in the meet, the 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly, and 100 backstroke, while Sommerville swam in the 100 butterfly for CSU. Johanson took home a 46th place in the 50 freestyle (23.43), 34th in the 100 butterfly (55.61). Sommerville also swam in the 100 butterfly and finished 51st at 56.45.
AWARDS ALL AROUND: Multiple Vikings have been awarded on this young season as Horizon League 'Swimmer 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 this past week 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. For the women, 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.
NATIONAL ATTENTION: The CSU Viking men earned national recognition this past week performing alongside top collegiate athletes and Olympians at the AT@T Winter National Championships in Austin, Texas. On the individual side junior Justin Kermackfinished in the top ten for nationally for the second straight season in the 200 butterfly. Following a ninth place finish last season Kermack jumped up to seventh 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 freshman seem to be mixing in seamlessly with the veteran groups on both the men's and women's squads. Two freshman 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 on the men's side freshman Martin Persson has the team's top 200 freestyle time (1:42.54), 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.
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 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 almost every category 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, and 400 IM. Al Shillito leads the leagues' backstroke categories with the top times in both the 100 and 200 backstroke. Brian Ferro has the leagues' top time in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke, with Justin Kermack leading the 200 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 Vikings will be off until after the new year when the team's head down to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for the Bob Mowerson College Forum Meet December 5th at a time to be announced.
