Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer
Cleveland State University

The Official Home of the Cleveland State University Vikings

Vikings Travel To Oakland

Vikings Travel To Oakland
Posted: Jan 28, 2010

Jan. 28, 2010

Contact: Renee Adam

Complete Release in PDF Format Get Acrobat Reader

SETTING THE SCENE: The men's and women's swimming and diving teams will travel to Rochester, Michigan to take on the Oakland Golden Grizzlies on Friday, January 29 at 6:00 p.m. in the OU Aquatic Center.

REVIEWING THE LAST TIME OUT: The Vikings traveled to Wright State last Saturday (Jan. 23) where both the men's and women's teams suffered set backs, dropping just their third and fourth meets respectively. Following are recaps of the meet:

MEN (13-3): Wright State 149, Cleveland State 94
Mark deSwardt, Pierre De Waal, Deni Gasparin and Josh Gonzalez were each able to record an individual event victory for the Vikings at Wright State. deSwardt won the 1,000 free (9:37.16), De Waal was victorious in the 200 fly (1:54.10) and Gasparin touched first in the 200 IM (1:58.00). Gonzalez led the divers with a first place finish in the 3-meter board with a score of 317.32.

WOMEN (12-4): Wright State 150, Cleveland State 91
Joanna Olsson and Kacey Cummings combined for four individual victories at Wright State, Olsson in the 200 IM (2:08.60) and the 200 fly (2:07.44) while Cummings swept the diving events with 252.15 points in the 1-meter board and 267.82 points in the 3-meter event. Alice Sommerville was the last Viking to record a victory, winning the 50 free with a time of 24.79.

MEN'S & WOMEN'S HEAD COACH
Wally Morton (Miami, OH, '70)
AT CSU: as men's coach: 264-141-1 (29th year), as women's coach: 24-23-0 (3rd year)

THE MORTON FILE: Wally Morton is in his 29th season as the men's swimming and diving head coach and his third with the women's team. During his tenure with the Viking men, Morton's success has been backed up by a 264-141-1 dual meet record that includes nine Penn-Ohio Championships, a pair of MCC titles and one Horizon League Championship. In his second season at the helm of the women's program, the squad recorded the most dual wins since 2005-06, with swimmers earning podium finishes in three different events at the Horizon League Championships. Morton has led five swimmers to the NCAA Championships, including 2009 All-American Jakub Dobies. He has also coached swimmers that have reached the international stage, including Nedim Nisic, who competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Two more of Morton's swimmers have also gone on to be Olympic Trials finalists.

PREVIEWING THE WOMEN: Head coach Wally Morton and his staff have brought in an outstanding group of talented newcomers to join the returners from last year's squad that finished sixth at the Horizon League Championships, one of the best finishes in school history. The returning squad is comprised of one senior, three juniors and six sophomores, including the holders of all six school records that were set during 2009. The freshmen are making an impact on the CSU record books as three of the newcomers, Joanna Olsson, Alice Sommerville and Michelle Ferro, have recorded 15 all-time top-10 times this season. Sommerville has the team's top times in the 50 free (23.84), 100 free (52.04), 100 breast (1:05.83) and the 100 fly (57.34) while Olsson holds the top time in the 500 free (4:54.39), 1,000 free (10:19.16), 200 IM (2:05.31), 400 IM (4:22.99) and also the 200 fly (2:03.35), setting CSU records in the 1,000 free, 200 fly, 200 IM and the 400 IM. Ferro leads the team in backstroke and breaststroke events, having top times in the 100 (58.90) and 200 backstroke (2:06.89) and the 200 breast (2:27.07). Three-time individual school record holder, sophomore Carys Behn, has the team's best times in the 200 (1:52.23) and 1,650 free (17:49.72). Kacey Cummings paces the divers with 261.45 and 285.10 points in the 1-and 3-meter boards respectively. The sqaud has also set CSU records in the 400 free and the 400 medley relays. Sommerville, Behn, Olsson and Jamie Puls recorded the 400 free relay time of 3:31.24 and Ferro, Sommerville, Olsson and Behn recorded a 3:54.34 in the 400 medley relay.

PREVIEWING THE MEN: After a season in which the CSU men's swimming and diving team earned their first All-American, placed first in eight events at the Horizon League Championships and captured Swimmer of the Meet, Athlete of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, the Vikings are prepared to expand on their success with the addition of nine talented newcomers. The newcomers join three seniors, three juniors and six sophomores to complete the 2009-10 squad. 2009 All-American Jakub Dobies has control of the breaststroke events, recording top times in the 100 breast (55.72) and the 200 breast (2:04.82) at the TYR Invitational, while also setting a team best 45.21 in the 100 free. Sophomore Mark deSwardt returns after earning all three league honors for the Vikings last season; Swimmer of the Meet, Athlete of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, swimming top times in the 500 free (4:29.34), 1,000 free (9:16.07), 200 fly (1:50.65) and the 400 IM (3:57.85) and has recorded an NCAA "B" cut time in the 1,650 free (15:27.19). Senior Todd Winchell holds top times in two events this season, the 100 back (51.92) and the 100 fly (49.97). Juniors Zvonimir Androic and Deni Gasparin round out the veterans that hold this seasons top times, with a team best 1:52.92 in the 200 back for Androic, a 1:54.56 in the 200 IM for Gasparin. Berry Thompson is one of two Viking newcomers to post a top time this season, holding a 20.89 in the 50 free, while Pierre De Waal has recorded a 1:42.27 in the 200 free. Sophomore Josh Gonzalez recorded the best score in the 3-meter board, with a score of 317.32, while Matt DiMasso has the best 1-meter score with a 273.40.

BACK-TO-BACK SWEEPS: Sophomore Kacey Cummings has won both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards in back-to-back meets with her victories at Wright State last Saturday (Jan. 23). The first pair of victories came against Duquesne and Xavier with scores of 261.45 in the 1-meter and 285.10 in the 3-meter. She then won the events against the Raiders with scores of 252.15 and 267.82 in the 1- and 3-meter boards respectively. Her longest win streak came as a freshman when she won both boards four meets in a row, from Oct. 31 to Nov. 11.

DESWARDT NEAR PERFECT IN 1,000 FREE: Over the past two seasons sophomore Mark deSwardt has posted a record of 16-1 in the 1,000 free in dual meet action. His only second place finish came at Ohio State (Nov. 24) this year when he finished behind Mark Neiman, who is currently 24th in the nation in the 1,000 free.

...DESWARDT RANKED NATIONALLY: deSwardt's 1,000 free time that he registered at Ohio State, 9:16.07, is his fastest time of the season and also ranks him 28th nationally in the 1,000 free. He is the only Horizon League swimmer to be ranked in the top 100 in the event, and is also one of only six sophomores to be in the top 30. He is also ranked 22nd nationally in the 1,650 free, with his NCAA "b" cut time of 15:27.19 that he set at the TYR Invitational (Nov. 20-22). He is the lone Viking to set an NCAA "b" cut time this season.

OLSSON REACHES 20: Joanna Olsson became the first Viking to record 20 individual wins this season with her two victories at Wright State this past Saturday (Jan. 23). Last season, Carys Behn led the Vikings with 23 victories as a freshman. With at least three meets left, Olsson is well on her way to surpassing Behn's record.

...THREE VIKINGS CLOSING IN: With two more meets and the Horizon League Championships this season, three Vikings are within eight wins of reaching the 20-win mark. Mark deSwardt is the closest, having 17 victories, while Alice Sommerville has 14 and Carys Behn has 12.

2009-10 HORIZON LEAGUE HONORS: Cleveland State has been honored 15 times by the Horizon League this season. The following CSU athletes have earned either swimmer of the week or diver of the week honors:
Alice Sommerville - Oct. 20 (Swimmer of the Week)
Kacey Cummings - Oct. 27 (Diver of the Week)
Jakub Dobies - Nov. 4 (Swimmer of the Week)
Josh Gonzalez - Nov. 4 (Diver of the Week)
Carys Behn - Nov. 17 (Swimmer of the Week)
Mark deSwardt - Nov. 17 (Swimmer of the Week)
Joanna Olsson - Nov. 24 (Swimmer of the Week)
Mark deSwardt - Nov. 24 (Swimmer of the Week)
Joanna Olsson - Dec. 1 (Swimmer of the Week)
Jakub Dobies - Dec. 1 (Swimmer of the Week)
Pierre De Waal - Jan. 11 (Swimmer of the Week)
Alice Sommerville - Jan. 18 (Swimmer of the Week)
Kacey Cummings - Jan. 18 (Diver of the Week)
Mark deSwardt - Jan. 18 (Swimmer of the Week)
Matt DiMasso - Jan. 18 (Diver of the Week)

DOUBLE WIN SEASONS: For the first time since 1972-73, when CSU started a women's swimming and diving team, both the men's and women's teams have double digit wins in the same season. The women reached 10 wins with their 24-12 victory over Syracuse at the San Juan Sprint Invitational (Jan. 9) and the men recorded their 10th win against Valparaiso (Nov. 14). The last time the two teams were close to accomplishing 10 win seasons was during 2005-06 when the women had nine wins and the men recorded 11.

SCHOOL RECORD SEASON: For the first time since the women's program was created in 1972-73, the CSU squad has recorded its first ever 12-win season. During the 1982-83 season, the Vikings had a 10-2 record, the most wins up until this year. With the 12-4 record as of Jan. 23, head coach Wally Morton has led his squad to just the fourth .750 or better season, and the first in the past 23 years.

RECORD SEARCH: With a victory at Oakland on Friday (Jan. 29), the men's team would tie the school record for most dual meet victories in a season, currently 14 held by the 1996-97 squad.

GONZALEZ STRONG IN 3-METER BOARD: After sitting out the Xavier/Duquesne meet, sophomore Josh Gonzalez came back with force at Wright State, winning the 3-meter board with his best score of the season, 317.32. He topped his previous best by more than 11 points which he recorded against St. Bonaventure and Niagara (11/14). Gonzalez has had much success on the 3-meter board this season, winning the event three times, against Malone (11/6), against Niagara and St. Bonaventure (11/14) and at Wright State (1/23).

OAKLAND IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE: Once again the Vikings have some tough non-conference competition ahead of them when they travel to Rochester, Michigan this weekend. The Golden Grizzlies have the best dual meet records in the Summit League, men: 3-2 (.600) and women: 4-2 (.667), while the Grizzlies also hold a combined 96 top-five spots in the Summit League standings out of a possible 160. Out of those top spots, 28 are the best times/scores so far this season in the league. Like CSU, Oakland is also well represented in weekly honors, with an Oakland swimmer or diver earning the weekly accolade 12 times this season.

NEXT UP: The Vikings will host their final duals of the season on Saturday, February 6 at 1:00 p.m. in Busbey Natatorium with the men hosting UIC and the women hosting UIC and Youngstown State. The team will also honor its four seniors during the meet; Jakub Dobies, Stephen Grove, Brittany McCann and Todd Winchell.