Nov. 28, 2011
Contact: Tim Ertle
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SETTING THE SCENE: The Vikings will compete at home for the first time in over two weeks when they host the Cleveland Dual Meet Invitational on Tuesday (Nov. 29) in a field that features Canisius College, John Carroll and Notre Dame (OH). Diving events will begin at 3:00 p.m. with races beginning at 5:00 p.m. inside the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium. Later in the week, qualifying student-athletes will participate in the 2011 AT&T Winter National Championships held Thursday (Dec. 1) through Saturday (Dec. 3) at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta. This year, the national meet will be a long course competition to allow participants an opportunity to achieve Olympic Trials qualifying standards.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: Cleveland State competed at the TYR Invitational, hosted by Northwestern University, November 18-20th. The men placed third while the women took fifth at the three-day event. Below is a brief recap:
MEN - Third
CSU ended the three-day event with 607 points, behind only Missouri State (1,006) and Northwestern (981). Josh Gonzalez won both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events and the team received standout performances from a handful of swimmers. Berry Thompson won two events and Justin Kermack set a new school record in the 200 fly (1:48.26) while capturing three top-five finishes. Freshman Nathan Grant had three top-six finishes, including a fourth place finish in the 200 breast (2:03.12), the fourth best time in program history.
WOMEN - Fifth
CSU finished with 465 points, behind Northwestern (866), Illinois (694), Iowa State (693) and Nebraska (517) - all of BCS conferences. Alice Sommerville won the 50 breast as well as the 50 and 100 fly in addition to three other top-four individual finishes. Joanna Olsson won the 200 IM, placed second in the 400 IM and was third in the 200 fly, setting four school records in the process.
WELCOME TO ATLANTA: CSU will send 10 student-athletes to compete in the AT&T Winter National Championships. Carys Behn (100 free and 200 free), Alexandra Johansson (100 back), Joanna Olsson (200 and 400 IM, 200 fly) and Alice Sommerville (50 free, 100 fly, 100 breast) will represent the women's team. Brian Ferro (100 and 200 breast), Nathan Grant (100 and 200 breast), Justin Hill (50 free), Justin Kermack (200 fly), Alex Lewis (50 free, 100 fly) and Berry Thompson (50 and 100 free, 100 fly) have qualified from the men's team.
AWARDS ALL AROUND: After stellar showings at the Northwestern TYR Invitational, the Vikings took three of four Horizon League weekly awards for the second straight week. Below is a list of Viking athletes to win the weekly award:
Josh Gonzalez - Oct. 3-9 (Diver of the Week)
Kacey Cummings - Oct. 10-16 (Diver of the Week)
Justin Hill - Oct. 10-16 (Swimmer of the Week)
Josh Gonzalez - Oct. 17-23 (Diver of the Week)
Joanna Olsson - Oct. 17-23 (Swimmer of the Week)
Kacey Cummings - Nov. 7-13 (Diver of the Week)
Nathan Grant - Nov. 7-13 (Swimmer of the Week)
Alice Sommerville - Nov. 7-13 (Swimmer of the Week)
Josh Gonzalez - Nov. 14-20 (Diver of the Week)
Alice Sommerville - Nov. 14-20 (Swimmer of the Week)
Berry Thompson - Nov. 14-20 (Swimmer of the Week)
Student-athletes from Cleveland State, Milwaukee, UIC, and Wright State have won the Men's Swimmer of the Week award, but the Vikings lead the way with three different winners.
The Vikings have had the Women's Swimmer of the Week a league-best three times. Alice Sommerville is the only female in the league to win the award more than once.
Through the first seven weeks of the season, three different student-athletes have been named Men's Diver of the Week. Cleveland State's Josh Gonzalez has won it a league-high three times.
With two weekly awards this season, Kacey Cummings has received the honor six times in her career. Only Youngstown State's Casey Hill has been named the Women's Diver of the Week more times this season.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE: Shortly before Cleveland State left for Evanston, Ill. to compete at the TYR Invitational, the program received some good news when it was announced Jodi Turk (Painesville, Ohio) and Dan Roberts (Fairview, Pa.) signed valid National Letters of Intent to enroll at the University in August and compete for the Vikings beginning in 2012-13.
Turk, who swims for Riverside High School, was eighth in Division I in the 500 free (5:02.78) as a junior at the Ohio High School Athletic Association Championships last February. She also took 10th in the 200 free (1:54.70).
"We're really pleased that we were able to sign a terrific athlete and an outstanding student in Jodi Turk," head coach Wally Morton said. "She carries over a 4.0 GPA and is one of the top students in her class in addition to being one of the premier swimmers in the state. For team balance, we wanted to add distance swimmers and we got a really good one in Jodi."
Roberts enters his final season at Fairview High School as the defending Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Division AA state champion in the 1-meter event. His title made him Fairview's first PIAA aquatics champion of any kind.
He finished second in the state as a sophomore, but came back with a standout junior season that earned him the top seed heading into the state meet. He won the 1-meter diving event with a 479.25, a total just 10 points off the state record, and 60 points better than the second place finisher.
"We're very excited Dan decided to attend Cleveland State," diving coach Rich Karban said. "He finished second in the state as a sophomore and was a champion last year. Dan competed in national diving events and has competed on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards so he has a lot of experience. He's a terrific student and is already really accomplished, so we think he'll develop into a fine collegiate diver here and we're happy to have him in the program."
MID-MAJOR MIGHT: The Cleveland State University men's swimming and diving team was ranked 17th nationally in the CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major Rankings which were released on Nov. 17. The Vikings women's team was the first team outside of the poll. Milwaukee was ranked 13th on the men's side and 17th in the women's poll, making the Panthers the only Horizon League team ahead of Cleveland State in either poll. Now in its 10th year, the Mid-Major Rankings serve to provide an objective point system to compare teams' relative strength in a traditional dual meet lineup. The ranking is available to those institutions that a) are not members of a BCS conference or Mountain West Conference, or b) provide fewer than one-half of the allowable scholarships under the NCAA rules. The rankings will be released again on Dec. 13, 2011.
... AND GETTING BETTER: The Vikings earned that respect before going to the TYR Invitational where they had their best times of the season. All five relays from both the men's and women's teams set new quickest times for the season, including a 3:44.73 turned in by Alexandra Johansson, Alice Sommerville, Joanna Olsson and Carys Behn in the 400 medley relay that shattered a Viking record set the year before. Five other school records were set by the women: three from Olsson, who also set a new league record in the 400 IM (4:19.57) and two from Sommerville. Justin Kermack set a new program record in the 200 fly (1:48.26) on the men's side. In every single race over the three-day event, the Vikings set a new season-best time. Diver Josh Gonzalez set new career-highs on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards to help the cause. Head coach Wally Morton is always quick to point out that the whole season is training as the Vikings continue to shoot for the league titles at the end of February.
VIKINGS VISIBLE: The Cleveland State swimming and diving program was featured by Fox affiliate WJW the morning of Nov. 15. The morning show's Kenny Crumpton, outfitted in a Viking swimming and diving shirt, visited the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium and talked to head coach Wally Morton, diving coach Rich Karban, swimmers Alex Cohara and Emily Splain as well as divers Kacey Cummings and Josh Gonzalez on the air. Crumpton spoke of the Vikings local talent which includes 26 student-athletes who went to high school in the state of Ohio.
NEXT UP: Cleveland State is off from competition for the remainder of the calendar year. The Vikings will compete in early January against a team to be announced when they are on their training trip.
