Jan. 21, 2012
Contact: Tim Ertle
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FAIRBORN, Ohio - The Cleveland State women's swimming and diving team won nine of 16 events against Wright State and the Vikings depth certainly helped them defeat the host Raiders 166-134 in a Horizon League matchup on Saturday (Jan. 21).
"I was really happy with our depth," head coach Wally Morton said. "We won our share of events, but in the ones that Wright State won, we did a nice job of finishing strong and picking up points from second and third place finishes."
Alice Sommerville won three individual events and Joanna Olsson chipped in two victories to help CSU improve to 11-4 on the year and 4-0 in the Horizon League.
The Vikings quartet of Alexandra Johansson, Sommerville, Carys Behn and Christine Kopacko won the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:47.82 which was ahead of Wright State's top foursome that finished in 1:48.68.
WSU's Kortney Mullen won the 1,000 free (10:50.35) but CSU's Nikki Kolis (10:55.59) and Ashley Rossi (10:58.34) were second and third, respectively.
The Raiders got another win from Molley Pipkorn - the first of her three - in the 200 free (1:53.81), but the Vikings depth shined brightly as Behn (1:55.81), Jamie Puls (1:59.23) and Amanda Pallija (2:02.29) were the next three to touch.
Johannson won the 100 back in 59.18 ahead of teammate Hayley Smith who touched in 1:00.04.
Sommerville won the 100 breast (1:07.18) and Wright State countered by winning the next event as Rasa Zilinskaite won the 200 fly in 2:05.06.
Olsson (2:07.00) and Emily Splain (2:14.50) were behind Zilinskaite to limit the damage of the Raider victory.
Pipkorn won the 50 free in 25.09 but Behn (25.28) and Kopacko (25.55) were right behind her.
Kacey Cummings won the 3-meter diving event with a 282.45 ahead of WSU's Neena Zwier who earned a 259.42. The two later flipped spots as Zwier won the 1-meter (256.35) while Cummings took second (239.62).
Cummings victory on the 3-meter board was the first of four consecutive CSU victories.
A Viking one-two-three sweep in the 100 free helped the cause as Sommerville (53.50), Puls (54.47) and Behn (54.58) were the first three to touch.
Smith led the Viking attack in the 200 back as she picked up the first win of her collegiate career. She covered the distance in 2:07.52 and CSU's Johansson was next in 2:08.50.
Olsson earned the first of two victories when she won the 200 breast ahead of three Raiders. Olsson won the event with a time of 2:28.28 while Allison Pallija took fifth with a 2:32.45.
Pipkorn won the 500 free with a time of 5:11.45, but CSU again had the next two student-athletes to reach the finish line. Emily Splain was second with a 5:21.90 and Amanda Pallija was third with a 5:22.00.
Sommerville (57.30) and Johansson (1:00.97) took first and third in the 100 fly while WSU's Zilinskaite was second with a 58.03.
Olsson won the final individual event, the 400 IM, in 4:33.47. Smith continued to show her value as a mid-season addition to the program with a time of 4:47.92, earning her third place.
The Raiders won the 400 free relay with a time of 3:35.61 while CSU's top group of Gretchen Hestley, Kopacko, Amanda Pallija and Jamie Puls finished in 3:38.92.
"We had a lot of good things happen and we still have things to work on," Morton said. "We have two weeks until our next meet and then we have some time before the league meet. I'm encouraged with where we are at and especially our depth, and I know we'll work hard to improve going forward."
The Vikings are idle until Feb. 4 when they host UIC on Senior Day, the final competition before the Horizon League Championships begin on Feb. 22.
