Jan. 9, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Contact: Gene Natale, Jr.
Cleveland State Swimming & Diving
Quad Meet 2
vs. Xavier, Canisius, and Duquesne
Date: January 12, 2008
Time: 1:00 p.m. EST
Site: Busbey Natatorium
SETTING THE SCENE: The men's and women's teams return home on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2008 to host a quad meet against Duquesne, Canisius, and Xavier at Busbey Natatorium. The meet is set to begin at 1:00 p.m. EST.
RECAPPING LAST WEEK: The swim teams traveled to Florida for their annual training trip, following the break for the holidays. The diving team has continued to train in Cleveland. Here is a brief look at how the Viking teams fared over the weekend.
Men - 1st place (30 pts) (Jan. 6th, in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)
The team as a whole performed very well, winning all five events in the training trip invitational against SUNY - Cortland. Marko Milenkovic was the standout individual performer for the day in the 200-meter freestyle relay.
Women - 3rd place (9 pts) (Jan. 6th, in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)
The Vikings scored runner-up finishes in two of five events in a three team invitational which also featured SUNY - Cortland and NYU. Kristine Bunker was the standout performer with her show ing in the 200-meter butterfly relay.
PREVIEWING THE WOMEN'S TEAM: The CSU women hope that their experience and skill they have shown will help them to improve on a sixth place showing at the Horizon League Championship last season. With a core of four seniors leading the way, improving every week is going to be crucial. Seniors Lesley Jones, Deanna Raedel, and Trish Simon lead the team in six events and set the stage for the team. Jones gets it done in the freestyle events, topping the team in the 50, 100, and 200 free as the team's top sprinter, while Raedel contributes to the freestyle with the second best times in the 50 and 100, and also has the top times in the breaststroke events. Simon, meanwhile, is typically the team's only entrant in the diving events and continues to strive for excellence. Meanwhile, senior Alex Bagi helps provide depth in the freestyle events and has been called upon frequently to contribute her talents to the relays. Junior Katie Bellew, who is the school record holder in the 100 fly (57.50), has the team's season best times in the 100 (1:00.18) and 200 fly (2:14.20) as well as the second best times in the breaststroke events and the 200 IM (2:18.34). She headlines a junior class that is really coming into its own. Junior Jen MacLauchlan leads the team in the backstroke events, with her times of 2:15.55 in the 200 yards and 1:01.18 in the 100 yards. The sisters Kristine and Sandra Bunker are just coming into their own, giving the team a boost in the freestyle and individual medley events. Kristine's best time in the 100 butterfly (1:00.78) is nearly as fast as Bellew's in the event, and her efforts in that event and the 200 fly provide crucial depth.
MORTON ON THE CSU WOMEN: "I am very encouraged by the improvement of our Lady Vikings. We still have a lot of work to do, but we really made some good progress on our training trip."
PREVIEWING THE MEN'S TEAM: The CSU Men's squad looks to win a league championship this year after finishing second in the conference last season. A core of eight seniors provide solid leadership to a team that is helped immensely by its talented younger contributors, with sophomore Jakub Dobies leading the way. Dobies was voted the newcomer of the year at the league championship last season after winning the 100 and 200 breaststroke, setting school and meet records in the process. He continues to improve and currently leads the Vikings with the team's top times in the 50, 100, and 200 freestyle, 100 and 200 breaststroke, and 200 IM. His school record in the 100 breaststroke (53.77) is one that will likely be broken yet again by the talented athlete, and he continues to improve his 200 breaststroke time, as he broke his own school record with the 2:00.43 he swam at Miami. Another underclassman contributing big for Cleveland State is Todd Winchell, who leads the team in the backstroke events. Winchell, who also has the team's top 100 butterfly time (49.71, at the Miami Invite) leads the team in the 50 and 100 backstroke with his season best times of 23.97 (set vs. Ohio State) and 51.19 (at the Miami Invite). With a strong core of seniors including Dan Baiko, Stef Potgieter, and Nedim Nisic, the team has the talent and experience needed to put Cleveland State back on top at the Horizon League Championships this season. Baiko leads the team in the diving events, while Potgieter gives the Vikings a nice one-two punch in the breaststroke events. Nisic, meanwhile, provides stability to the team's butterfly events, with the team's second best times in both the 100 and 200 fly.
MORTON ON THE CSU MEN: "Our purpose in Florida was to get good hard training in. To perform as well as we did is very well to see, and bodes well for the future."
FOUR TIMES THE CHARM: Sophomore Jakub Dobies won his fourth career swimmer of the week honor following his sensational performances at the Miami Invitational. Dobies, the reigning Horizon League Newcomer of the Year, leads the conference with top times in four different events. He has won 7 individual events in the season's first nine competitions and posted a couple of the nation's best times with his performances in the 200 (2:00.43) and 100 (54.03) breaststroke at Miami. He has shown improvement with every meet and still has room to improve on his 100 breast time, as his current season best remains short of the school record time of 53.77 which he set last year at the Horizon League Championships.
JONES LEADS THE WAY: Lesley Jones has become a very reliable option in the freestyle events, as her performance at the Miami Invite has proven. In addition to being the highest individual placer for the Vikings at Miami, she now holds the team's top times in the 50 (24.53), 100 (53.18), and 200 freestyle (1:58.90). Jones seems to save her best performances for the bigger competitions, as she posted previous season highs earlier in the year in a dual meet against reigning women's league champion Green Bay (Oct. 27) in the 50 (25.38) and 100 freestyle (54.75), good for second in each event at the meet.
EASY BAIKO: Senior Dan Baiko started the season on fire, looking to continue Cleveland State's dominance in the diving events. Baiko won both the 3-meter and 1-meter dives in dual meets against Valparaiso (Oct. 13) and Green Bay (Oct. 27). Following his performances against Green Bay which saw him put up 291.75 points in the 1-meter and 311.75 points in the 3-meter, Baiko was named the Horizon League Diver of the Week. He has continued to dominate as the season has worn on, and currently holds season and career best marks of 296.40 in the 1-meters (set Nov. 11 at the City College Meet) and 352.65 in the 3-meters (set Nov. 20 vs. Ohio State).
RAEDEL COMING ON STRONG: Senior Deanna Raedel paces the women's teams in the breaststroke events, topping the team's time list following her performances at the Miami Invite. With a time of 1:09.33 in the 100 and 2:30.58 in the 200, both attained this past weekend, she looks to continue her improvement as she continues through her final season as a Viking.
DOUBLE DUECKER: Dave Duecker has been having a solid season, continuing his improvements in the 500 and 1000 free as well as in the individual medley events. He currently holds the season's top times in the 500, 1000, and 400 IM, clocking in at 4:38.54, 9:50.09, and 4:01.84, respectively. After setting season bests in the 500 and 1000 in early November, he was recognized by the league office as Horizon League Swimmer of the Week (Nov. 7).
MEN'S & WOMEN'S HEAD COACH:
Wally Morton (Miami (OH) '70)
At CSU: (as Men's Coach): 235-132 (27th Year)
(as Women's Coach): 2-5 (1st Year)
Overall: Same as above
Morton, who is in his first season as the head coach of both the men's and women's teams, has led the Vikings to 12 Conference championships and 23 winning seasons in his 26 years at the helm of the men's program. Morton, who also serves as CSU's Director of Aquatics, and has led the Vikings to six straight seasons of 10 or more dual meet victories.
UP NEXT: Both teams travel to Fairborn, Ohio for a dual meet against league rival Wright State, with the meet scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. EST on Sat. Jan. 19.
