Jan. 22, 2011
Contact: Dan Carr
Photo Gallery of the Senior Day Presentation
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The women's swimming and diving team tied the school record for wins in a season on Saturday (Jan. 22), defeating Youngstown State, 206-94, in front of a very supportive Senior Day home crowd.
Cleveland State also hosted Wright State, falling to the Raiders, 158-140.
The Vikings improved to 14-3 on the year, tying last year's team for the most dual meet wins in a season. With two meets left on the schedule, the Vikings will have a chance to break the record before the end of the season.
"Our goal is to do well in dual meets, and this team has," head coach Wally Morton said. "But swimming hard in the conference championships is more important, and that's our focus for the rest of the year."
A number of Vikings had strong performances on the day, with five different CSU athletes winning individual events.
Alexandra Johansson got CSU's first win on the day, taking first in the 100 back in 58.39. Joanna Olsson won the 200 fly (2:10.52) and took second in the 500 free (5:13.71) while Kacey Cummings won the 1-meter dive with a score of 271.95.
Alice Sommerville and Carys Behn also swam very well. Sommerville won the 50 free (24.04) and finished second in a very close 100 fly race. Wright State's Rasa Zilinskaite won in 56.65 with Sommerville touching in at 56.84.
Carys Behn also was just touched out in the 200 free, taking second with a time of 1:52.72 while Wright State's Molley Pipkorn won in 1:52.21.
"It was an extremely exciting meet, and we battled Wright State, traditionally one of the top teams in the Horizon League, right to the end," Morton said. "We just got touched out in a few races and that was the difference."
Cleveland State also placed second in two close relay races. The 200 medley team came in a mere .13 behind Wright State, finishing in 1:48.29 compared to the Raiders' 1:48.16 time. The 400 free relay unit took second in 3:30.70, .59 behind the winning Wright State squad (3:30.11).
While he considered the close loss to Wright State disappointing, Morton said he was very happy with how his team performed.
"Winning is always more fun than almost winning, but almost winning can be fun too," Morton said. "When you band together as a team and everyone is swimming hard and pulling their heart out for their teammates to win, there are no regrets."
Diana Mruk, the team's lone senior, closed out her regular season home career with her best performance ever in the 100 free. She won the first heat of the event, finishing in 58.44. Mruk was honored for her contributions to the team over the past four years in a ceremony prior to the day's swimming events.
"Diana has been one of our team captains the past two years, and she has been a big part of the team's success," Morton said. "Her leadership and her love for swimming and her teammates have helped this team become as good as it's been."
The Vikings will get their first chance to earn a 15th dual meet win on Wednesday (Jan. 26), as Cleveland State will travel to Bowling Green State University to swim against the Falcons in a 6:00 p.m. meet.
