Feb. 6, 2009
VALPARAISO, Ind. - -
Contact: Julie Farr DeLima
The Cleveland State University women's swimming and diving teams traveled to Valparaiso for a Horizon League dual meet on Friday, Feb. 6. The Vikings came out on the winning end of a 128-89 score, improving their dual meet record to 8-8.
"Frances Carrion winning the 1,650 free was a big, big win for us," head coach Wally Morton said. "On paper this was a very close meet but our depth is what won it for us. It was the second win in a row against a Horizon League opponent and a big stepping stone for us. I think we look good coming down the stretch but we have a tough meet against UIC tomorrow."
The Vikings started off the day second-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay with Emily Splain, Rachel Arzadon, Whitney Hickey and Brittany Tweardy clocking in at 1:53.04.
CSU won each of the first three individual events, including Carrion's time of 18:20.17 in the mile. Erin Green finished third in the race (18:37.87). Maria Culjak followed Carrion's 1,650 performance with a win in the 200 freestyle (1:59.33), just edging out Splain (1:59.58) for the win and Carys Behn picked up a victory in the 50 freestyle (24.66).
Whitney Hickey nabbed a second-place finish in the 400 IM (4:57.59) and Behn led the way with a victory in the 100 butterfly (59.28) followed by Katie Bellew in second (1:01.60). CSU took two of the top three places in the 100 freestyle with Kristina Nagy (54.34) and Emily Splain (55.38) taking second and third, respectively.
Culjak picked up her second victory of the afternoon in the 100 backstroke (1:00.92) followed closely by runner-up Hickey (1:02.82) and Behn won her third event with a 5:17.68 finish in the 500 freestyle.
Vikings went 2-3-4 in the 100 breaststroke led by Arzadon in 1:10.28. Green finished third in 1:12.88 while McCann was fourth in 1:13.98. In the final event of the day, Culjak, Nagy, Tweardy and Kristine Bunker paired up for second in the 200 freestyle relay (1:42.08).
In the 1-meter diving event, CSU's duo of Heather Dietz and Liz Victor took the two top spots with 196.80 and 193.95 points, respectively. It was Victor's top score of the season.
Several swimmers also used the day to improve on their top times of the season including Culjak (25.16 in the 50 free as a relay leadoff), Nagy in the 100 free (54.34), Hickey in the 400 IM (4:57.59) and Sandra Bunker in the 400 IM (4:59.41).
The Vikings are back in action tomorrow, Feb. 7 when the team takes on UIC.
