April 24, 2012
Contact: Tim Ertle
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Horizon League Announces Academic All-League Teams for Winter Sports
INDIANAPLOIS, Ind. - Nine members of the Cleveland State University swimming and diving program were named to the Horizon League Winter All-Academic team, the league office announced Tuesday (April 24) afternoon.
With nine selections, the University was tied for second in the league. Five members of the women's team were selected: Carys Behn, Kacey Cummings, Alexandra Johansson, Joanna Olsson and Alice Sommerville. The five recipients were the most of any school in women's swimming and diving.
Four men were honored for their efforts in the classroom and in the pool: Brad Bielak, Matt DiMasso, Brian Ferro and Justin Kermack. Only Milwaukee (five) had more student-athletes named to the men's swimming and diving team.
"This is the highest honor for any student-athlete at Cleveland State University," head coach Wally Morton said. "It combines excellence in the classroom and excellence in athletic performance at one of the highest levels of Division I athletics.
What makes this a particularly significant honor is the amount of time that our student-athletes put into their training with double and triple sessions and one of the longest in-seasons of any sports in NCAA athletics," Morton added. "It is remarkable we have so many student-athletes that earned this recognition and I congratulate these kids for doing a terrific job of preparing for a career after athletics."
Behn placed in the top-three in three individual events at the 2012 Horizon League Championships. She was the quickest on the team in 2011-12 in the 100 (50.95), 200 (1:49.67) and 500 (4:54.62) free events while maintaining a 3.75 GPA in her pursuit of a degree in communications. Behn, the recipient of the 12th annual John McLendon Award, swam on two relay teams that broke school, league and championship records in 2012: the 400 free relay (3:22.32) and the 800 free relay (7:26.29) team.
Cummings, the `Diver of the Meet' at the 2012 Horizon League Championships, is an environmental science major with a 3.59 GPA. She won both the one-meter and three-meter diving events - becoming only the third female diver in the last nine years to sweep both events at the league meet. Her 300.95 off the three-meter board at the Horizon League Championships set a new school record and helped her qualify for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships.
Johansson, a sophomore with a 3.55 GPA while majoring in pre-nursing, won the 100 fly at the Horizon League Meet with a school, league and championship record time of 54.77. She also set a school record in the 100 back (55.68) and took third at the Horizon League Championships in that event with a 55.70.
She was second at the league meet in the 50 free (23.13) - 0.01 behind teammate Alice Sommerville in addition to swimming on four relay teams that shattered school records in 2012 to finish with six school records.
Johansson had a top-three time on the team in eight different individual events.
Olsson, a communication major with a 3.70 GPA, broke school records in the 200 (2:03.83) and 400 (4:19.57) IM events and set school records in the 200 breast (2:21.23) and 200 fly (2:02.42) in 2011-12. She swam on three relay teams that set new school records during the 2011-12 season. As an individual, Olsson was top-three in three separate events at the 2012 Horizon League Championships.
Sommerville, who won the 50 free (23.12) at the 2012 Horizon League Championships, has a 3.47 GPA while working toward a degree in civil engineering. Earlier in the season, Sommerville set a school record with a 22.98 in the 50 free. She took second in the 100 fly (54.78) at the league meet, just .01 behind teammate Alex Johansson and placed third in the 100 breast with a school record and NCAA B-Cut time of 1:02.62.
The junior from Methven, New Zealand was a member of four relay teams that set school records in 2012. She swam on two relay teams that won titles at the league meet, including the 400 free relay (3:22.32) team that set a school, league and championship record.
Bielak has the highest GPA on the men's team, coming in with a 3.90 mark while pursuing a degree in advertising and public relations. He scored at the Horizon League meet in a pair of events, taking 12th in the 200 fly (1:54.22) and earning a 15th place finish in the 100 fly (51.73) while turning in the 24th quickest time in the league in the 50 free (22.15). Bielak was top-five on the team in both the 200 fly (third - 1:53.90) and the 50 fly (24.45).
DiMasso, the lone senior from the men's team to earn the honor, has a 3.82 GPA while working toward a degree in political science. He took eighth on the three-meter board (247.45) at the 2012 Horizon League Championships while placing 10th in the one-meter (263.10) event at the league meet. DiMasso's top scores on the one-meter (268.12) and three-meter (274.80) boards were both second on the team this year.
Ferro, who accounted for 35 team points at the Horizon League Championships, carries a 3.41 GPA while majoring in mechanical engineering. He took sixth in the 100 breast (56.73) at the 2012 Horizon League Championships, a time which was good for 10th in program history and second best on the 2012 team. Ferro's top 200 breast (2:02.51) time came at the league meet and earned him a third place finish.
The 200 IM (1:52.97) time Ferro turned in at the league meet ranked him 11th in the Horizon League in that event, giving him three top-11 finishes.
Kermack, who maintains a 3.71 GPA while majoring in environmental science, was the Horizon League champion in both the 200 fly (1:47.48) and the 400 IM (3:54.53) - both of which were NCAA B-Cut qualifying times. He qualified for the finals in the 200 meter fly at the 2011 AT&T Winter National Championships, placing ninth nationally.
The sophomore, who swam a CSU top-10 all-time race in three different individual events in 2012, set a school record with a 1:47.30 in the 200 fly. He was top-five on the team in seven different individual events. He swam on the top 800 free (6:44.97) and 400 medley (3:18.24) relay teams posted by CSU in 2012. The 400 medley relay team won the league title and posted the third best time in program history.
