Feb. 25, 2012
Contact: Tim Ertle
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Brown Deer, Wis. - The Cleveland State men's swimming and diving team set new school records and continued to show great depth on Saturday (Feb. 25), the final day of the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships. When it was all said and done, the Vikings finished second - an improvement from the third place finish achieved last season.
Host Milwaukee won the event with a score of 901 points. The Vikings finished with 726.5, edging UIC - the team that entered the final day of the meet in second place - by 25 points. Wright State took fourth with 475 points while Green Bay was fifth (432) and Valparaiso was sixth (148).
The 726.5 points earned by Cleveland State were the most since the 2006 season, the last time the Vikings won the team title.
"I'm very proud of this team and it was great that we moved up a spot in the league this year," head coach Wally Morton said. "We had some injuries and illnesses and the normal adversity you go through as a team, but we always hung together and supported one another and the kids always gave everything they had. I'm very proud of what we accomplished.
"We're going to lose some outstanding seniors who demonstrated leadership in many facets - both in the pool and out."
In the first event of the day - the 1,650 free - four Vikings placed in the top 12 to combine for 33 team points.
Rookie Jon Querciagrossa was fourth with a 15:52.39 - a time which was 32 seconds better than his prelim time.
Teammates Pieter Ritz, Alex Cohara and Graham Thoresen finished in consecutive order. Ritz was 10th with a 16:14.95, Cohara was next with a 16:17.54 and Thoresen was 12th with a time of 16:32.58.
Two Vikings placed in the next final - the 200 back. Alasdair Shillito continued his outstanding meet with a time of 1:48.11 - just .08 behind Eric Ahlden from Wright State. Shillito's time was the second quickest in program history, trailing Pieter Pelser's 1:47.72 set back in 2006.
Ryan Blankenship was seventh in the 200 back with a career-best time of 1:52.39 and Colin Hanner had the top time in the consolation final (1:53.94) to chip in nine team points.
The CSU sprinters continued to standout as Berry Thompson edged `Swimmer of the Year' Hermanus Botha from Wright State in the 100 free. Both individuals achieved NCAA `B" times but Thompson came in at a school, league and championship record time of 43.33, a hair quicker than Botha's 43.56. After Botha was UIC's Dan Corley (45.01) and then CSU's Justin Hill with a career-best time of 45.05.
Alex Lewis was 10th with a time of 45.47 - good for seven team points. Lewis entered the weekend with a career-best time of 45.54 in the 100 free.
Nathan Grant picked up his first career league title in the 200 breast, winning the event in a career-best time of 2:01.58 ahead of Milwaukee's Brady Huemann and his time of 2:02.42. Brian Ferro took third with a season-best time of 2:02.51 - helping the Vikings quickly add 36 points to the team score.
Justin Kermack followed with a win in the 200 fly (1:47.48). In the prelims, he posted a `B' cut and school record time of 1:47.30. Earlier this season, Kermack broke his own school record with a 1:48.26 in the 200 fly.
Kermack's teammate Mason Allen took seventh in the 200 fly with a season-best time of 1:52.50 to contribute 12 points toward the team score. Junior Brad Bielak (1:54.22) was 12th with his best time of the season and his five points paired with the point Travis Lombardozzi (2:01.50) picked up for his 16th place finished totaled CSU 38 points in the 200 back.
The meet closed with CSU taking second in the 400 free relay. The Vikings were edged out by Milwaukee who touched in 2:58.01. The CSU quartet of Hill, Thompson, Grant and Lewis was right the Panther foursome - coming in with a school-record time of 2:58.42. The previous record was 3:00.45 which was set in 2009.
