CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State University men's and women's swimming & diving teams finished off a successful weekend Saturday afternoon inside the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium, as the programs combined for a 3-0 mark in dual action.
The CSU women claimed wins over Green Bay, 188-165, and Marshall, 184-166. The Viking men came from behind to top their Horizon League opponent, 178.5-174.50, in a dual that hung in the balance entering the final event—the 400 freestyle relay.
Similar to her performance Friday evening, junior Molly McNamara led the CSU cause on the women's side by winning a butterfly event and swimming on the winning medley relay team.
After heading out to leads over both opponents after Friday's action, CSU further pulled ahead when it started Saturday by winning the 400 medley relay. Sophomore Chuchu Yang led off and was followed by senior Tobie Zeller, McNamara and freshman Irena Weclawiak. The quartet finished in 3:53.12.
CSU's 'B' relay team, which consisted of junior Cassandra Oltman, freshman Gracyn McQueary, freshman Alana Cartwright and senior Jamie VanDewerker, finished third, ahead of Marshall's top relay in the event. That foursome touched the wall in 3:57.23.
McNamara cruised to a win in the 100 butterfly in 56.37 seconds, more than a second faster than the runner-up. Sophomore Madisyn Jaszcz took fourth in the event with a solid swim, finishing in 58.98 seconds.
After claiming the top five spots in the 100 breaststroke Friday night, the CSU women also did well in the 200 breaststroke Saturday. McQueary, who swam in the first of two heats, was the runner-up in 2:24.28 while Zeller was third (2:25.10) and Cartwright was fourth (2:25.66).
Yang and freshman Dana Bender finished second and third in the 200 backstroke in 2:07.90 and 2:08.81, respectively.
Freshman Lexie Kostelnik was CSU's top finisher in both the 500 freestyle, in which she took third (5:09.14), and the 400 IM, where she was fifth (4:38.62).
Sophomore Gabriella Marinelli was the top Viking in the 100 freestyle, finishing fourth in 53.63 seconds. She also swam the third leg of CSU's runner-up 400 free relay that finished in 3:34.57. Weclawiak led off and was followed by junior Claudia Zido while senior Jamie VanDewerker anchored the quartet.
Freshman Erica Henrichsen took fourth for CSU in 1-meter diving with 195.30 points.
The Cleveland State men rallied furiously, winning five of the final six events to pull past the Phoenix. Four different Vikings won individual events on the day while CSU swept the relays for the day.
Junior Jason van der Touw, junior Jared Stergar, sophomore DJ Arslanian and sophomore Tyler Stevenson got CSU off to a good start Saturday when they won the 400 medley relay in 3:24.26.
Arslanian won the 100 butterfly in 50.42 seconds while senior Grant Wethington was fourth in 52.03 seconds.
The day after winning the 1650 freestyle, freshman Lee Moffett showed no signs of wearing down as he won the 500 freestyle in 4:40.21. Van der Touw was the runner-up in 4:42.49.
Freshman Dominik Niedzialek won the 200 backstroke in 1:52.13 while Cleveland State got a big boost from its diving corps.
Freshman Matt Akers won the 1-meter event with 299.75 points, finishing just a quarter-point off the NCAA Zones qualifying standard. Junior Curtis Roden was third (274.35) while freshman Trevor Mahoney was fourth (242.85).
Van der Touw was the runner-up in the 100 freestyle (46.65) while sophomore Jack MacDonald took third (47.24) and junior Sean Mulvin tied for fourth (47.33).
Stergar and Stevenson took third and fourth in the 200 breaststroke in 2:09.92 and 2:10.23, respectively. Freshmen Josh Hodges was CSU's top finisher in the 400 IM, placing fourth in 4:13.95.
The Cleveland State men trailed by five points heading into the final event and thus needed to place first and third to win the dual. That's exactly what the Vikings proceeded to do.
Arslanian led off CSU's winning relay and was followed by Stevenson and MacDonald. When van der Touw began the anchor leg, he trailed by .05 seconds. However, he dominated the finish, splitting 45.14, to give the Vikings the win in 3:03.88.
CSU's 'B' relay also importantly took third. Wethington, junior Erwan Mahoudo, Mulvin and Stergar touched the wall in 3:09.27.
Cleveland State will remain at home as it continues action by hosting its biggest meet of the fall semester, the sixth annual Magnus Cup. The three-day event will commence Friday, Nov. 17.