Feb. 22, 2006
CLEVELAND - Cleveland State put up some of the season's best times on the first day of the Horizon League Championships on Wednesday (Feb. 22), as the women's squad sits in fifth-place with 61 points through three events. Stellar performances by junior Bjorn Schantz and the diving team jettisoned the men's squad into an early lead with 169 points.
The women's 200 free relay team of Jen MacLauchlan, Marianne Lionell, Deanna Raedel and Lesley Jones began the night by swimming to a fourth-place finish and a school-record time of 1:36.95.
Bunker added a personal-best time of 10:55.35 in the 1,000 freestyle, while 200 medley relay team of MacLauchlan, Lionell, Kristine Bunker and Jones notched a season-best 1:48.85 to close the night.
"We are swimming well," women's head coach Mike Lehto said. "We put up some of our fastest times this year, and I think we will be able to carry this success into the upcoming days."
Schantz scored the Vikings first win of the tournament in the men's 1,000 freestyle, swimming the trip in a Horizon League Championship record time of 9:17.93 and out-pacing his competition by almost 12 seconds.
The divers followed on the one-meter board, as sophomore Chris Dalman (356.55), senior Thatcher Carr (349.65) and sophomore Dan Baiko (275.45) placed 1-2-3 to put the Vikings in front for the first time of the night.
"This was a great start to the championships," men's head coach Wally Morton said. "We got off to a good start in the relay, and then Bjorn and our divers really put up strong showings. It's a long meet, though. We have to stay focused."
The 200 free relay team of Adam Wroblewski, Nedim Nisic, Johan Norling and Pieter Pelser began the evening with a third-place showing in a season-best time of 1:22.89, while the 200 medley relay team of Pelser, Marko Milenkovic, Nisic and Norling closed the night in second with a school-record time of 1:31.96.
Action resumes Thursday (Feb. 23) morning, with swimming prelims at 10:30 a.m., diving prelims at 3:00 p.m. and finals at 6:00 p.m. at Busbey Natatorium.
Men's Scores
Cleveland State - 169
UIC - 122
Wright State - 118
UW-Milwaukee - 109
UW-Green Bay - 104
Butler - 68
Women's Scores
Wright State - 124
UW-Green Bay - 116
UW-Milwaukee - 98
UIC - 79
Cleveland State - 61
Youngstown State - 57
Butler - 48
