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Women's Swimming Going For Win Record Against Bowling Green

Women's Swimming Going For Win Record Against Bowling Green
Posted: Jan 25, 2011

Jan. 25, 2011

Contact: Dan Carr

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SETTING THE SCENE: After tying the mark for dual meet wins in a season (14) with a win vs. Youngstown State on Saturday (Jan. 22), the women's swimming and diving team will go for the record this week when the Vikings swim at Bowling Green on Wednesday (Jan. 26) at 6:00 p.m. The men's team has the week off, with its next meet being at UIC on Feb. 5.

LAST TIME IN THE WATER: The Vikings competed in their final regular season home meet of the season last Saturday (Jan. 22), with both teams swimming Wright State and the women also hosting Youngstown State. Below are recaps of that meet:

Men (11-3-1)
CSU 191, Wright State 107 (Jan. 22, Cleveland, Ohio)

Justin Kermack broke the CSU record in the 200 fly (1:48.65), Josh Gonzalez swept the 1-meter (303.65) and 3-meter dives (328.15) and the Vikings won 14 of the day's 16 events. Deni Gasparin won the 100 (58.48) and 200 (2:06.75) breaststroke events and helped the 400 free (3:07.15) and 200 medley (1:34.58) relay teams to victory while Mark de Swardt won the 1,000 free (9:31.47), 500 free (4:37.32) and 200 IM1:53.40).

Women (14-3)
CSU 204, Youngstown State 96 (Jan. 22, Cleveland, Ohio)
Wright State 158, CSU 140 (Jan. 22, Cleveland, Ohio)

Five different Vikings won individual events, including Kacey Cummings taking the 1-meter dive with her best score ever (271.95), and Cleveland State defeated Youngstown State to earn its 14th victory of the season, tying a school record.

PREVIEWING THE MEN: Mark de Swardt leads a balanced group of swimmers that expect to win CSU's first conference championship since the 2005-06 season. The junior's best times lead the conference in five events this season: the 1,650 free (15:23.90), 1,000 free (9.18.49), 500 free (4:29.05), the 400 IM (4:00.89) and the 200 fly (1:51.08). de Swardt has also won 22 individual events this year. Sophomore Berry Thompson has emerged as one of the team's top sprinters, having been honored as the conference swimmer of the week three times this fall. Senior Deni Gasparin and freshman Brian Ferro have combined to win 12 breaststroke events while senior Zvonimir Androic has led the team in the backstroke events with five wins. Junior Josh Gonzalez, a three-time Horizon League Diver of the Week selection this year, won the 1-meter (303.65) and 3-meter (328.15) dives last Saturday (Jan. 22), recording the best scores of his career.

PREVIEWING THE WOMEN: Sophomores Alice Sommerville and Joanna Olsson have been on a tear this season, giving the Vikings reason to believe that the program's first Horizon League championship could come this season. The two have broken one Horizon League and five Cleveland State relay records this year and have combined to set four individual school records. Both were on the 400 free relay squad that set the conference record (3:24.51) at the Northwestern TYR Invitational. Olsson also broke the Horizon League record in the 400 IM that weekend and set new school marks in the 500 free and 200 IM, while Sommerville broke the CSU record in the 100 fly in the opening meet of the season. Junior Carys Behn also had a fine fall season, being a member of all five record-breaking relays and winning 11 individual events. The Vikings have also benefited from a strong freshman class, highlighted by Alexandra Johansson and Christine Kopacko. Johansson was a member of the record-setting 200 free, 400 free, 800 free and 400 medley relays while Kopacko helped set a new CSU mark in the 200 medley.

MEN'S AND WOMEN'S HEAD COACH
Wally Morton (Miami, OH, '70)
At CSU: As men's head coach, 276-145-2 (30th Year); As women's head coach, 40-27 (4th Year)

With 14 seasons of double-digit victories under his belt, and over 300 wins overall, Wally Morton has had nothing but success during his lengthy tenure with Cleveland State.The 2009-10 season resulted in 14 victories, tying the school record for the second time in his 29 years as head coach of the men's swimming and diving team. For the past three years, Morton has also added the women's program to his head coaching resume and has led the team to the most wins in CSU history (14). With the men, Morton has compiled over 250 victories including a second place finish at the Horizon League Championship last year. His successful tenure includes 14 Penn-Ohio Championships, a pair of Midwestern Collegiate Conference (MCC) titles, a Horizon League Championship and an astounding 27 seasons with a .500 or better record. Morton has turned around the women's program, leading the Vikings to back-to back 14-win seasons. This year marks their fifth .700 or better season. The 14 wins are a school record, surpassing the previous record of 10 which was set during the 1982-83 season.

FOURTH IN THE (MID-MAJOR) NATION: The men's team has been ranked fourth by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America in its most recent Division I mid-major poll, released on Dec. 20. The Vikings, with 229.8 points, trail first place Navy (253.6), Princeton (250.7), and Cal State Bakersfield (230.1). The only other Horizon League team ranked is Milwaukee, who is 11th with 224.4 points. Denver (243.3) rounds out the top five. The CSCAA defines a mid-major as any program not in the six BCS conferences or the Mountain West Conference.

WOMEN EARN FIRST MID-MAJOR RANKING: For the first time ever the CSCAA's Division I Women's Mid-Major Top 25 Poll includes Cleveland State. The Vikings, with 227.4 points, are ranked 15th, with Miami of Ohio (259.6), Princeton (250.7), Harvard (244.3), Denver (243.3) and Navy (241.9) holding the top five spots. Ranked just ahead of CSU is Milwaukee (14th) who, with 228 points, is the only other ranked Horizon League squad.

WOMEN TIE WIN RECORD: The women's 204-96 victory over Youngstown State on Saturday was the team's 14th win of the year, tying the school record for dual meet wins in a season set by last year's squad. The Vikings will have two chances to break the record this season starting with Wednesday's meet at Bowling Green. CSU will then wrap up the regular season with a meet at UIC on Feb. 5.

BACK-TO-BACK: The 14 victories mean that the women's team will finish with back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since having four winning years in a row from 1986-87 to 1989-90. CSU went 9-3, 8-6, 8-5 and 8-7 in those seasons, respectively. This will also mark the first time the women have ever finished consecutive seasons with double digit wins.

10 OF 10 (PLUS): With a 191-107 victory over Wright State on Saturday (Jan. 22), the men's team now has 11 wins on the year, marking the squad's 10th consecutive season with double digit dual meet victories. The Viking men have also clinched their 13th consecutive winning season. Cleveland State has finished every year since 1998-99 with more wins than losses, the longest such streak in program history. The second longest stretch is 10 seasons of winning records, set from 1973-74 to 1982-83.

FLYING INTO THE RECORD BOOK: Justin Kermack set the first men's record of the season last Saturday in the team's final regular season home meet, winning the 200 fly in 1:48.65. He broke the previous time of 1:49.12, set by Mark de Swardt against UIC on Feb. 6, 2010, which coincidentally also happened to be the team's last home meet of the season that year.

2010-11 HORIZON LEAGUE AWARDS: Cleveland State's swimmers and divers have been honored by the Horizon League seven times this season, including sweeping the awards this past week, with nine different Vikings being selected for athlete of the week awards. Below is the complete list of Vikings who have earned the honor this season:

Alice Sommerville - Oct. 18 (swimmer of the week)
Berry Thompson - Oct. 18 (swimmer of the week)
Josh Gonzalez - Oct. 18 (diver of the week)
Carys Behn - Oct. 26 (swimmer of the week)
Berry Thompson - Oct. 26 (swimmer of the week)
Mark de Swardt - Nov. 2 (swimmer of the week)
Deni Gasparin - Nov. 9 (swimmer of the week)
Josh Gonzalez - Nov. 23 (diver of the week)
Berry Thompson - Nov. 23 (swimmer of the week)
Joanna Olsson - Nov. 23 (swimmer of the week)
Kacey Cummings - Dec. 7 (diver of the week)
Matt DiMasso - Dec. 7 (diver of the week)
Mark de Swardt - Jan. 18 (swimmer of the week)
Josh Gonzalez - Jan. 18 (diver of the week)
Alice Sommerville - Jan. 18 (swimmer of the week)
Kacey Cummings - Jan. 18 (diver of the week)

VIKINGS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: The best times of CSU's top swimmers stack up well against the rest of the country. Mark de Swardt's 15:23.90 mark in the 1,650 free is the 32nd best among NCAA swimmers while his 9:18.49 time in the 1,000 free ranks 37th. Justin Kermack's 1:48.65 time in the 200 fly ranks 64th while Brian Ferro is 77th in the 200 breast with a time of 2:02.34. Joanna Olsson rates 86th in the 400 IM (4:20.09). The women's best time in the 400 free relay (3:24.51) also ranks as the 46th best finish in the country and their top time in the 200 free (1:34.00) is tied with Clarion for 53rd.

SENIOR SUCCESS: Last Saturday was Senior Day, the final regular season home meet for Deni Gasparin, Mike Marsico and Zvonimir Androic, and the three made the most of the occasion. Gasparin swept the breaststroke events, winning the 100 in 58.48 and the 200 in 2:06.75, and helped the 200 medley (1:34.58) and 400 free (3:07.15) relay squads to first place finishes. Marsico was also on the winning 400 free relay team and helped his 200 medley unit to a second place finish (1:36.35), recording the fastest split of the day (20.98) in the process. Androic won the 200 back (1:52.74) and recorded a time of 1:54.32 in the 200 fly, the third best time of anybody on the team in that event this season.

FAST STARTS: Alasdair Shillito and Gretchen Hestley joined the swimming and diving teams this semester and have not wasted any time helping the Vikings win. Shillito helped the 200 medley relay team to victory on Saturday and also won the 100 back. His time in the 100 back against Oakland (51.84) is the fourth best in the Horizon League this season.Hestley has helped relay teams to two first place finishes this month and her time in the 200 free last Saturday (1:56.08) ranks as the 10th best in that event in CSU history.

TAKING A DIVE: While Josh Gonzalez and Kacey Cummings have been leading the Vikings in the diving events all year, they've recently taken their performances to a new level. Gonzalez swept the diving competition against both Oakland and Wright State, with his scores in the latter being personal bests (303.65 - 1-meter, 328.15 - 3-meter). Cummings was named conference diver of the week following her performance against Oakland and won the 1-meter dive on Saturday with her best score ever in that event. (271.95).

EASY AS 1-2-3: Entering this season, the women's divers had never 1-2-3'd an opponent in Rich Karban's nine seasons as head diving coach. This season they have already done it three times, with Kacey Cummings, Kathleen Chandler and Alex DiMasso placing first, second and third against divers from Denison (on Nov. 5), St. Bonaventure (Nov. 13) and Canisius (Nov. 30).

NEXT UP: Both Viking swimming and diving teams will conclude the regular season with a road meet at Horizon League foe UIC on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 2:00 p.m.