BUFFALO, New York - The Cleveland State men's and women's swimming and diving teams enjoyed their short trip east, taking in the sights and sounds of historic Niagara Falls before coming back to Cleveland victorious.
The men's team captured a 145.5-96.5 win while the women came away with a score of 153-90. The men improved to 4-2 in dual meets, the women 3-6.
The meet started off as a foreshadow of things to come. In the night's first event, the 200 Medley relay, both the men's and women's teams brought home impressive first-place finishes. The men's team of Jon LaValle, Tommi Wolst, Szymon Golczyk and Adam Ingledew finished in 1:33.19 while the women's team of Cassandra Oltman, Tobie Zeller, Molly McNamara and Anna Evans ran a 1:50.80, beating the second-place team by over three full seconds.
In the next event, the women did something they haven't done all year; a clean 1-2-3 sweep of the top three spots in an event. Claudia Zido (10:45.43), Bethany Robertson (10:51.23) and Jodi Turk (10:58.45) finished first, second and third respectively in the 1,000 Free. For the men, MacJilton Lewis was the only 1,000 Free competitor to boast a time under 10:00, finishing in first-place with a 9:59.60. Patrick Walsh was not far behind in third-place with a 10:09.33.
Following the 1,000 Free, the 200 Free contained one of the night's closest races and one of the best finishes of the season for CSU's Meghan Miller (2nd, 2:01.21) and Alexandra McConnell (4th, 2:01.74). Wolst took care of the men's side, winning the event in 1:42.91.
In the ensuing 50 Free, the women again took three-straight places, this time second, third and fourth from Ashleigh Bennett (25.07), Evans (25.44) and Madeline Heffernan (25.78). For the men, Declan McLaughlin finished first in 21.36 and Adam Ingledew third in 21.72.
Molly McNamara continued onto the night's next event, the 200 IM, and did what she has done all season long; win. She boasted a time of 2:12.69 while Kayley Chevalier took third in 2:17.61. Gage Alleman (1:55.78) and Jared Stergar (1:58.31) also finished first and third.
The Vikings would continue their strong swim, winning 11 more events between the teams. The remaining wins on the women's side came from Miller, again one of her top swims of the year, in the 200 Fly (2:13.45), McNamara in the 500 Free (5:12.62), Morgan Massie in the 200 Breast (2:32.35) and the 400 Free Relay team of Evans, Jamie VanDewerker, Zido and Bennett (3:38.92).
On the dive board, Samantha Sposet (258.52), Tori Taffner (233.70) and Maggie Stebick (213.00) finished first, second and third in the 1M. In the 3M, Taffner (243.38) and Sposet (221.92) flip-flopped places and Stebick finished fourth with a 187.94.
The men's remaining victories came from Philipp Sikatzki in the 200 Fly (1:52.52), beating the second-place finisher by more than five seconds, Phillip Brittain in the 100 Free (48.09), Wolst in the 200 Back (1:51.89), Alleman in the 200 Breast (2:09.92) and the 400 Free relay team of Sikatzki, Aidan Burton, McLaughlin and Sean Mulvin (3:10.57).
Danny Roberts (285.90) and Curtis Roden (231.30) finished second and fourth in the 1M dive and followed up with the same placement in the 3M, Roberts with a 263.25 and Roden a 218.10.
The Vikings will head home for the holiday break before returning for the annual Holiday Invitational after the New Year followed by the final two home duals of the season against Horizon League opponents UIC (Jan. 15) and Wright State (Jan. 16).
