Feb. 27, 2010
Contact: Renee Adam
Chicago, Ill. - Jakub Dobies became a four-time Horizon League champion in the 100 breast, as the Vikings finished day three of the Horizon League Championships strong, moving into second place with 495 points.
"It is very exciting to end day three just 18 points out of first place," head coach Wally Morton said. "Going into the final day it could be anybody's week and we will see who can step up and put out good quality swims when it counts. I feel good about the swims that we have coming up tomorrow and they are some of our stronger events. It is always a goal to be competitive in the championships and we are definitely showing that this year with the amount of quality swims everyone is giving us."
Dobies won the 100 breast in 54.11, his fastest time of the season and an NCAA "B" cut time. His time also set an NCAA "B" cut, which would allow him to go to the NCAA Championships if not enough "A" cuts are set this season.
Deni Gasparin finished second behind Dobies in the 100 breast, swimming his best time of the year, 55.54.
Mark deSwardt won his third title of the season, winning the 400 IM in record setting fashion with a time of 3:53.91. deSwardt's time bested Dave Duecker's time of 3:56.45 that he set in 2008 and is also an NCAA "B" cut time.
The deepest event for CSU came during the 100 fly, with six Vikings competing in the finals of the event. Stephen Grove paced the Vikings, finishing third with his best time of the year, 48.85. Todd Winchell was close behind, finishing fourth in 48.98. Keith Everhart (51.09), Colin Hanner (51.37), Travis Lombardozzi (51.72) and Brad Bielak (52.02) all competed in the consolation final, finishing third, fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.
Another strong event for the Vikings was the 100 back, with Todd Winchell, Stephen Grove, Zvonimir Androic and Colin Hanner all swimming in the finals. Winchell was the highest finisher for CSU, coming in fourth with a time of 51.36, his best time of the season. Grove finished fifth with a personal best of 51.71 and Androic finished sixth in his best time of the year, 51.99. Hanner finished third in the consolation final (52.56).
"The senior leadership on this team is just amazing," Morton said. "In the water they are making sure to put their team in the best possible position by reaching the finals, and out of the water they are always there to cheer on their teammates."
Berry Thompson was the highest finisher for CSU in the 200 free, swimming a personal best time of 1:41.44 to finish in eighth place. Pierre De Waal finished second in the consolation final (1:41.39) and Alex Cohara finished seventh (1:44.35).
The 800 free relay team of Dobies, deSwardt, Winchell and De Waal swam the third fastest time in CSU history, 6:43.26, to finish fourth in the event.
After winning the Horizon League title in the 3-meter diving event, Josh Gonzalez led the divers finishing fifth in the 1-meter board with 267.35 points. Matt DiMasso finished 15th in the prelims, but came back to win the consolation final, finish ninth overall with 233.80 points.
"The competition tonight was filled with quality divers who all stepped up to compete at the league championships, including Josh," head diving coach Rich Karban said. "Josh competed well throughout the entire day and he held his ground from the prelims to the finals to stay in fifth place, despite all of the quality diving. He was off on one of his dives tonight, his first miss in four lists this week, but he stayed confident and was able to move on with his other dives."
The Vikings were able to rebound from third place day two finish and finish day three in second place with 495 points, just 18 points behind the leader, Milwaukee. UIC (468), Wright State (459), Green Bay (413) and Valparaiso (106) round out the rest of the standings.
The final day of the Horizon League Championships begins tomorrow morning at 11:30 a.m EST and finals beginning at 7:00 p.m. EST. Fans can watch the finals action live via live streaming on the Horizon League network, and can also follow along with the Horizon League's live blog.
