INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Senior Cassandra Oltman smashed a school record while three Vikings won titles in NCAA qualifying times on the third day of the Horizon League Championships Friday inside IU Natatorium.
The CSU men sit in second place with 445.5 points while the Viking women moved up a spot into third carrying 378.5 points.
Seniors Molly McNamara and Jared Stergar and junior Matthew Martin all won individual conference titles Friday.
McNamara tallied her second straight Horizon League title in the 100 fly in unique fashion as she tied for first with Mallory Buha of IUPUI. Both finished in NCAA 'B' cut times in 53.50 seconds. McNamara becomes the first Viking woman to ever win back-to-back HL titles in the 100 fly and now has five individual titles in her career.
She led CSU in one of its best-scoring events of the Championships as three other Vikings finished among the top eight.
Oltman finished fifth in a career-best 55.41 seconds, junior Madi Jaszcz was seventh in 56.80 and sophomore Alana Cartwright was eighth in 57.53. Jaszcz reset her personal best in the prelims (56.00).
After resetting her personal best in the butterfly, Oltman did more than that in the backstroke. She shattered the school record entering the day by .89 seconds as she took second place in 54.30 seconds. She topped her personal best entering the day by over 1.25 seconds.
Freshman Riley Drummond finished fifth in 55.62 seconds, Jaszcz was seventh in 56.38 and junior Chuchu Yang was 14th in 57.12. Drummond became the third-fastest performer in program history in the event while Yang reset her personal best in prelims (56.96).
Agnes Bahr joined her classmate Drummond in securing a top-five individual finish as a rookie. She took third in the 400 IM in a new career-best 4:26.76. Sophomores Lexie Kostelnik and Dana Bender finished 12th and 16th, respectively, in 4:29.92 and 4:35.51, the latter of which was a new career best.
Three Vikings scored in the women's 100 breaststroke. Sophomore Libby Smith led the way with a sixth-place finish in 1:04.21 after she had reset her personal best in prelims. Cartwright was eighth (1:04.83) and sophomore Gracyn McQueary was 16th (1:06.65).
In the 200 freestyle, junior Gabriella Marinelli was eighth (1:52.38), senior Claudia Zido was 12th (1:52.47) and sophomore Irena Weclawiak was 13th (1:52.98).
Oltman, Smith, McNamara and Zido were just off the school record in the 400 medley relay as the quartet finished second in 3:42.67.
Martin joined McNamara in helping CSU get a double in the 100 fly. He won the title in 47.41 seconds, an NCAA 'B' cut, in his first season as a Viking. In doing so, he became the third-fastest performer in program history.
Junior Dominic Poletta was fifth (48.65), freshman Bob Lenart was seventh (49.26) and junior DJ Arslanian was 13th (49.77). Lenart had reset his personal best in the prelims (49.10).
Stergar trailed by .34 seconds at the halfway mark but split 28.65 in the back half to win the 100 breaststroke in 54.27 seconds, an NCAA 'B' cut. His new personal best earned him his second individual HL title and made him the second-fastest performer in school history.
Junior Tyler Stevenson was eighth in the 100 breaststroke (56.10), freshman Jack Krusinski was 10th (56.63) and senior Addison Kaufmann was 12th (56.96).
Sophomores Matt Akers and Dominik Niedzialek also both earned NCAA qualifying standards.
Akers qualified for the 1-meter final with a new career best and then surpassed that mark in the finals. He finished second with his new career-best score of 330.10 points. He scored at least 50 points on each of his final five dives and hit 55 points on four of those. His highest-scoring one was an inward 2.5 somersault tuck that earned 58.90 points.
Senior Curtis Roden was sixth in 1-meter (298.40) and sophomore Trevor Mahoney was 10th (267.00).
Niedzialek reset his career-best in a highly competitive 100 backstroke field. He secured a 'B' cut with a third-place finish as he touched the wall in 48.26 seconds. Classmate Timothy Kubacki finished 10th in 49.79, a new career best.
Kubacki led a group of four Vikings to score in the 400 IM. He finished second in 3:55.34, becoming the second-fastest performer in program history. He had set a new personal best in prelims.
Krusinski was 10th in a new personal best (4:02.28), senior MacJilton Lewis was 12th (4:04.69) and sophomore Alec Bowie was 14th (4:06.22).
Senior Jason van der Touw led three Vikings to score in the 200 free. He was third (1:37.88), junior Erwan Mahoudo tied for sixth (1:39.35) and senior Sean Mulvin was ninth (1:40.14).
Niedzialek, Stergar, Martin and van der Touw finished second in the 400 medley relay in 3:14.69.
Cleveland State has now won six of the last seven Horizon League titles in the men's 100 fly.
The Championships conclude Saturday with five individual swimming events and the 400 freestyle relay for each gender and women's 3-meter diving.
