Feb. 27, 2009
BROWN DEER, Wis. - -
Contact: Julie Farr DeLima
The Cleveland State University had another great day at the 2009 Horizon League Championships. The women added two CSU records, one Horizon League record and 11 new all-time Top-10 times on the third day of the meet. After Day Three of the four-day event, the Vikings moved up to fifth place with 214 points.
"I'm very excited about our performances," head coach Wally Morton said. "Carys Behn just missed winning the 200 free but set a new school record and she continues to get better every time she swims. Whitney Hickey set a new record in both the prelims and the finals of the 100 fly and our 800 free relay gave us a very solid performance. Our performances today were also significant because they moved us up into the middle of the pack and into fifth place. We've shown a huge improvement over last year."
Kristine Bunker swam the fifth-fastest time in school history in the opening event, finishing 15th in the 400 IM (4:41.16) after swimming a 4:45.76 in her preliminary race. In the preliminary heats, Sandra Bunker finished in a season-best time of 4:53.30 (18th).
Whitney Hickey added her name to the Vikings record book with a school-record swim in the 100 fly. Hickey's time of 57.03 bettered the mark of 57.50 set by Katie Bellew in 2006. Bellew swam a 59.60 in the preliminary heats to finish 18th.
The Vikings also had several solid performances in the 200 free. Carys Behn finished second in the finals with a time of 1:50.22, breaking her own school record and setting a new Horizon League mark. Behn's previous record was 1:52.52 set on Nov. 25. Emily Splain also picked up points for the Vikings with her 14th place finish (1:55.69). In the preliminary heats, Splain swam the fifth-fastest time in school history with a 1:55.43. Four other CSU swimmers in the preliminary heats swam their fastest times of the season including Kristina Nagy (1:57.33, 17th), Kristine Bunker (1:57.54, 18th), Diana Mruk (2:06.23, 26th) and Brittany Tweardy (2:09.95, 28th).
Three of the four swimmers in the 100 breast also added new Top-10 times to the Vikings record book. Erin Green finished 12th overall with a time of 1:07.02. During the preliminary heat, Green swam the second-fastest time in school history with a 1:06.51. Rachel Arzadon finished 16th overall with a 1:08.26 after swimming the fourth-fastest time in school history during her preliminary race (1:06.96). In Bellew's preliminary race, she bettered her own No. 10 all-time mark with a swim of 1:08.23 while Brittany McCann swam her season-best time of 1:10.90.
The assault on the record book continued during the 100 back with three more times making CSU's Top-10 list. Hickey swam the third-fastest time in school history to finish 8th (58.38) while Maria Culjak's time of 58.83 was the school's fifth-fastest swim and good enough for 11th overall. Splain finished 12th with a time of 59.74 after swimming the school's seventh-fastest time during her preliminary heat (59.66). Sandra Bunker also swam her season-best time of 1:03.75 during a preliminary swim (23rd).
The Vikings swam the second-fastest 800 free relay in school history en route to a fifth-place finish as Behn, Hickey, Splain and Kristine Bunker touched in 7:44.90.
During the night's final event, Heather Dietz and Liz Victor got the Vikings on the board in the 1-meter diving competition. Dietz finished eighth overall with a score of 185.80 while Victor finished 13th with 163.85 points.
The Horizon League crowns its 2009 champion tomorrow at the conclusion of the four-day event. Saturday's events include the 1,650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, 400 free relay and the men's 3-meter diving competition. Preliminary swimming heats begin at 10:30 a.m. with preliminary diving starting at 1:30 p.m. Final events begin at 6:30 p.m. Central time. On-demand videos of the final heats as well as live blogs are available off the Horizon League website (www.horizonleague.org).
