CLEVELAND, Ohio - Junior Timothy Kubacki of the Cleveland State University men's swimming & diving team was named the Horizon League Co-Male Scholar-Athlete of the 2019-20 Winter Season the league office announced Thursday afternoon.

While this is the first such honor for Kubacki, it is the third consecutive year that a Viking swimmer, male or female, has been recognized in this fashion. Student-athletes from the sports of basketball, swimming & diving and indoor track & field are eligible for the League's Winter Scholar-Athlete honor.

Kubacki owns a 3.82 grade point average as accounting major. He has earned a spot on the Dean's List in each semester at CSU thus far, including a perfect 4.0 mark last spring. He was named Academic All-League for the second time in his career last month.

Kubacki capped his junior season with a title-winning and record-breaking performance at the Horizon League Championships. He won two individual titles at the 2020 league meet and was one of just three athletes at the meet to accumulate at least 55 individual points.

Kubacki won the 400 IM league title in NCAA 'B' cut time (3:50.53), taking first place by over two seconds. He had shattered a 10-year-old school record with his time in prelims (3:50.41) as he bested the prior program record by over 3.50 seconds. Kubacki also won the 200 IM in a new personal best time (1:47.05) for his first career league title. He trailed in the shorter event with 50 yards to go but came from behind to out-touch the runner-up by .06 seconds.

With his performance on the first full day of the meet, Kubacki became the first Viking man to win a 200 IM league title in 10 years. The following day he became the first Viking to sweep the IM events at a league championship in 25 years.

In the 200 backstroke prelims at the HL meet, Kubacki broke the school record and posted an NCAA cut time as he touched the wall in 1:44.21. He went on to finish in fourth place in the event. He also swam on CSU's runner-up 800 free relay squad at the league championships and posted a team-best split of 1:36.94 on his leg.

Kubacki is the fourth distinct Viking to be named a Scholar-Athlete of the Season since the league adopted the season-based format for the award beginning in the 2015-16 year. Those four Vikings have combined for six total awards, three of which have been claimed by CSU swimmers.

The Horizon League recognizes student-athletes at the conclusion of each of its three athletic seasons as the Scholar-Athlete of the Season. To be eligible for Scholar-Athlete of the Season consideration, a student-athlete must be a member of that sports current year all-academic team and is selected based on a combination of athletic and academic achievement by the League's faculty athletics representatives.