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Three School Records Broken, Two Titles on Third Day

Three School Records Broken, Two Titles on Third Day

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State University women's swimming & diving program broke three school records and won two titles while five different members of the men's program  posted NCAA qualifying marks as both programs continued to host the Horizon League Championships Friday inside the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium.

The CSU men closed the gap on first-place Oakland, as the Vikings have 466 points compared to 498.5 for the Golden Grizzlies. The Viking women are in third place behind Milwaukee and Oakland with 434 points but are only 20.5 points behind the top spot.

Junior Molly McNamara broke a school record for the second straight day as she won the 100 butterfly title. Senior Tobie Zeller collected her first League title in winning the 100 breaststroke in her final time swimming it as a collegian.

McNamara broke the school record in the 100 fly prelims before topping it again in the finals. She finished first in a pool-record 53.27 seconds and was more than one second under the B standard. It was her second career League title and her first in the 100 fly.

Classmate Cassandra Oltman was fifth in a new personal best 55.81 seconds while freshman Alana Cartwright was seventh in 56.40.

Zeller posted a come-from-behind win in the 100 breaststroke to claim her first League crown. She was fourth at the halfway mark but split 33.06 in the back half to win the race in 1:02.67. She was only .05 seconds off the school record.

Zeller led six Vikings among the top 12 in that event. Redshirt senior Madisen Tretter was fifth in 1:03.33, her fastest time in three years, while freshman Alana Cartwright was sixth in a new personal best 1:03.38.

Freshman Libby Smith won the consolation final in 1:03.92, bettering her personal best entering the day by nearly two seconds. Freshman Gracyn McQueary and junior Morgan Massie were 11th and 12th, respectively, in a personal best 1:04.54 and 1:04.79. Massie reset her PR in the prelims.

Zeller and McNamara also helped shatter a school record in the 400 medley relay as they swam the middle half. Senior Jamie VanDewerker led off and sophomore Gabriella Marinelli anchored the group that finished second in 3:42.21. They broke the prior program standard by 2.49 seconds.

Oltman and VanDewerker both topped the school record in the 100 backstroke, in back-to-back heats in the prelims. The senior took third in the final in 55.25 seconds while the junior was fourth in 55.66 seconds. VanDewerker's 55.19 from the prelims now stands as the school record.

Sophomore Madisyn Jaszcz was fifth in the 100 back in 56.04 seconds, a new personal best by over a second. Junior Ashleigh Bennett took 11th in a new personal best 56.81 seconds.

The Viking women had two in the top five and four in the top 11 of the 200 freestyle.

Marinelli was third in a new personal best 1:50.64 while junior Claudia Zido was fifth in 1:50.75, topping her prior personal best by over two seconds.

Freshman Irena Weclawiak was 10th (1:52.42) while sophomore Meghan Bobick was 11th (1:52.45).

Freshman Lexie Kostelnik was 12th in the 400 IM in 4:29.81, topping her personal best entering the day by over four seconds. Fellow rookie Erica Henrichsen was 14th in 1-meter diving with 192.00 points.

On the men's side, five Vikings had 'B' cuts in four events as Cleveland State had 12 top-eight individual finishes Friday.

Junior Jared Stergar was one of three Vikings among the top seven in the 100 breaststroke. He was the runner-up in a 54.99 seconds, a 'B' standard time. He had taken more than 1.5 seconds in posting a new personal best in the prelims.

Sophomore Tyler Stevenson was fourth in a personal best 55.15 seconds, also a 'B' standard and more than two seconds better than his prior personal best. Junior Addison Kaufmann was seventh in 55.86 seconds, as he took over 1.5 seconds off his previous personal best. Senior Patrick Tippen was 11th in 56.41 seconds.

Freshman Dominik Niedzialek took third in 48.39 seconds in the 100 backstroke, a 'B' standard effort. Senior Jonathan LaValle posted a personal best of 49.13 seconds to finish fifth.

Sophomore DJ Arslanian took third in the 100 butterfly in a personal best 48.07 seconds, achieving a 'B' standard. Senior Grant Wethington was seventh in 49.65, after notching a new PR in prelims, while LaValle was 15th in 50.10, after he beat his previous PR by over two seconds in prelims. The Viking men placed three in the top 15 despite only having one individual seeded among the top 16 in the 100 fly.

Junior Jason van der Touw grabbed another third place finish in the 200 freestyle, stopping the clock in a 'B' cut time and personal best 1:37.77. Classmate Sean Muvlin was sixth in 1:39.98 after beating his PR by over 1.5 seconds in prelims.

Despite having only one individual seeded among the top eight, CSU placed three in the top six in the 400 IM. Junior Erwan Mahoudo was the runner-up in a personal best 3:55.27. Freshman Timothy Kubacki was fourth in 3:57.47, topping his personal best entering the day by over seven seconds.

Junior MacJilton Lewis was sixth in 3:59.17 and freshman Alec Bowie was ninth in 4:00.25, beating their personal bests by over two and four seconds, respectively.

The CSU men took third in the 400 medley relay in 3:14.62. Niedzialek, Stergar, Arslanian and van der Touw comprised the quartet.

Oltman became the fourth fastest performer in program history in the 100 fly. Smith, McQueary and Massie are now the fifth, sixth and seventh fastest performers in the 100 breaststroke. Jaszcz and Bennett became the fourth and eighth fastest performers in the 100 back. Marinelli and Zido became the second and third fastest performers in the 200 free. Kostelnik became the third fastest performer in the 400 IM.

Stergar, Stevenson and Kaufmann became the fourth, fifth and eighth fastest performers in the 100 breaststroke. Niedzialek became the second fastest performer in program history in the 100 back. Arslanian became the third fastest performer in the 100 fly. Van der Touw and Mulvin became the second and fourth fastest performers in program history in the 200 free. Mahoudo, Kubacki and Lewis became the fourth, seventh and eighth fastest performers in the 400 IM.

The Championships conclude Saturday with five individual swimming events per gender, men's 3-meter diving and the 400 freestyle relay.