Men's Swimming and Diving 11/10/2009 12:00:00 AM

Swimming And Diving To Host Two Quad Meets This Week

Nov. 10, 2009

SETTING THE SCENE: The Cleveland State men's and women's swimming and diving teams will host the City College Meet on Tuesday (Nov. 10) when Gannon, John Carroll and Notre Dame (OH) come to Busbey Natatorium for a 3:00 p.m. diving and 5:00 p.m. swimming start. The Vikings will host their second quad meet of the week on Saturday (Nov. 14) at 1:00 p.m. when Niagara, St. Bonaventure and Valparaiso come to town.

REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The men's and women's squads traveled to Youngstown, Ohio last Friday (Nov. 6) with the women facing Canisius, Malone and Youngstown State and the men taking on Canisius and Malone.

MEN (4-1) - CSU 157, Canisius 68 (Nov. 6, Youngstown, Ohio), CSU 169, Malone 42 (Nov. 6, Youngstown, Ohio):
Josh Gonzalez, Todd Winchell, Mark deSwardt and Deni Gasparin each won two individual events for the Vikings, leading CSU to 10 individual victories. The team of Stephen Grove, Berry Thompson, Keith Everhart and deSwardt won the 400 medley relay in 3:37.29, more than six seconds faster then the Canisius relay that finished third, behind a second place CSU relay.

WOMEN (3-2) - CSU 182, Canisius 58 (Nov. 6, Youngstown, Ohio), CSU 194, Malone 24 (Nov. 6, Youngstown, Ohio), CSU 139, YSU 102 (Nov. 6, Youngstown, Ohio):
Joanna Olsson led the Vikings in their sweep last weekend, going three-for-three in individual events, setting CSU records in the 1,000 free (10:19.16) and the 200 fly (2:05.76). Alice Sommerville and Carys Behn each won two events, en route to CSU winning seven out of the 12 races. The 400 medley team of Sommerville, Michelle Ferro, Emily Simard and Whitney Hickey was the lone relay to record a victory on the day.

MEN'S & WOMEN'S HEAD COACH
Wally Morton (Miami, OH, '70)
AT CSU: as men's coach: 251-138-1 (28 years), as women's coach: 12-19-0 (2 years)

THE MORTON FILE: Wally Morton enters his 29th season as the men's swimming and diving head coach and his third with the women's team. During his tenure with the Viking men, Morton's success has been backed up by a 251-138-1 dual meet record that includes nine Penn-Ohio Championships, a pair of MCC titles and one Horizon League Championship. In his second season at the helm of the women's program, the squad recorded the most dual wins since 2005-06, with swimmers earning podium finishes in three different events at the Horizon League Championships. Morton has led five swimmers to the NCAA Championships, including 2009 All-American Jakub Dobies. He has also coached swimmers that have reached the international stage, including Nedim Nisic, who competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Two more of Morton's swimmers have also gone on to be Olympic Trials finalists.

PREVIEWING THE WOMEN: Head coach Wally Morton and his staff have brought in an outstanding group of talented newcomers to join the returners from last year's squad that finished sixth at the Horizon League Championships, one of the best finishes in school history. The returning squad is comprised of one senior, three juniors and six sophomores, including the holders of all six school records that were set during 2009. The freshmen are already making an impact on the CSU record books as three of the newcomers, Joanna Olsson, Alice Sommerville and Michelle Ferro, have recorded seven all-time top-10 times this season. Sommerville has the team's top times in the 50 free (23.95), 100 free (52.04) and the 100 fly (58.80), while Olsson holds the top time in the 1,000 free (10:19.16), the 200 IM (2:09.05) and also the 200 fly (2:05.76), setting CSU records in the 1,000 free and 200 fly. Five-time individual school record holder, sophomore Carys Behn, has the team's best times in the 200 (1:54.63) and 500 free (5:08.03). Emily Simard has a grasp on the breaststroke events placing one and three in the 100 and 200, she is tops in the 100 (1:10.28) and third in the 200 (2:34.71). Ferro leads the team in backstroke events, having top times in the 100 (1:01.85) and the 200 backstroke (2:07.95), and also leads the team in the 200 breast (2:29.48). Kacey Cummings has paced the Viking divers once again, placing second in both the 1- and 3-meter diving events with 250.65 and 240.65 points respectively.

PREVIEWING THE MEN: After a season in which the CSU men's swimming and diving team earned their first All-American, placed first in eight events at the Horizon League Championships and captured Swimmer of the Meet, Athlete of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, the Vikings are prepared to expand on their success with the addition of nine talented newcomers. The newcomers join three seniors, three juniors and six sophomores to complete the 2009-10 squad. 2009 All-American Jakub Dobies continues to improve on his top times in the 100 breast (57.06) and the 200 breast (2:05.88) by setting new times at Notre Dame. Sophomore Mark deSwardt returns after earning all three league honors for the Vikings; Swimmer of the Meet, Athlete of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, swimming top times in the 1,000 free (9:29.27), 500 free (4:37.13) and the 200 fly (1:52.78). Senior Todd Winchell made a strong impact during the second dual meet of the season setting top times in the 100 fly (52.05) and the 100 back (50.87). Juniors Zvonimir Androic and Deni Gasparin round out the veterans that hold this seasons top times, with a team best 1:55.11 in the 200 back for Androic and a 1:55.68 in the 200 IM for Gasparin. Three newcomers have recorded top times/scores for the Vikings this season. Berry Thompson leads the 50 (21.26) and 100 free (47.42), Pierre De Waal has the top time in the 200 free (1:45.71) and Josh Gonzalez has recorded the best scores for the divers in both the 1- and 3-meter diving events with 253.55 and 269.85 points respectively.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: The Cleveland State men's swimming and diving team swept the weekly league honors two weeks ago when senior 2009 All-American Jakub Dobies earned swimmer of the week and sophomore Josh Gonzalez was named diver of the week after their performances in the double dual at Notre Dame and against Miami (OH). Dobies had two individual victories in the 100 (57.06) and 200 breast (2:05.88) while Gonzalez paced the CSU divers in both the 1- and 3-meter diving events in his second meet as a Viking, with 254.30 and 257 points respectively.

LEADING FRESHMEN: The Cleveland State women's swimming and diving team has been led by freshmen this season as they have won five, six and six races in the first three dual meets of the season. This is the highest number of victories for freshmen in back-to-back-to-back meets over the past two seasons.

deSWARDT CONTINUES STREAK: Sophomore Mark deSwardt continued his streak of winning at least two individual events to 11 straight meets when he won the 1,000 free and 200 breast against Canisius and Malone last Friday. The streak dates back to November 11, 2008 when he won the 1,000 free and the 200 IM at the City College Championships. deSwardt has also won the 1,000 free in 10 consecutive meets and 13 out of the 14 times that he has swam the race as a Viking.

RECORD SETTER, PART II & III: Freshman Joanna Olsson was the first swimmer to set a CSU record during the 2009-10 season when she set a school record in the 200 fly, and she continued her record setting ways this past weekend, setting two program records. Olsson set records in the 1,000 free (10:19.16), beating out teammate Carys Behn by three seconds and the 200 fly (2:05.76), besting her own record that she set earlier this season by just under one second.

DYNAMIC DIVING: Six out of the eight possible first and second place finishes in the diving events this past weekend were held by, Josh Gonzalez, Matt DiMasso and Kacey Cummings. Gonzalez and DiMasso went one-two in both the 1- and 3-meter events, while Cummings placed second in both boards for the women. This marks the third time over the past two seasons that a CSU men's diver has won both boards, with DiMasso posting double victories twice last season.

WINNING WAYS: The men's squad has won at least six events in 30 out of 36 meets over the last four seasons, while the women's team has won at least three events in 21 out of 34 meets. This season both the men and women have recorded at least seven victories in their respective meets, with the men winning a season high 11 races last Friday at Youngstown State (11/6) and the women posting 11 wins against Green Bay (10/24).

2009-10 HORIZON LEAGUE HONORS: The Cleveland State Vikings have been honored four times by the Horizon League this season. The following CSU athletes have earned either swimmer of the week or diver of the week honors:
Alice Sommerville - Oct. 20 (Swimmer of the week)
Kacey Cummings - Oct. 27 (Diver of the week)
Jakub Dobies - Nov. 4 (Swimmer of the week)
Josh Gonzalez - Nov. 4 (Diver of the week)

NEXT UP: The men's and women's teams will travel to Evanston, Illinois to take part in the Northwestern University Invitational from Friday Nov. 20-Sunday Nov. 22.

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