SETTING THE SCENE: The Vikings will travel to Evanston, Ill. to compete in the TYR Invitational, hosted by Northwestern. The three-day event will begin on Friday (Nov. 20) and will conclude on Sunday (Nov. 20). Each day, first sessions will get started at 9:00 a.m. EST and the second session will begin at 4:00 p.m. EST. Men's and women's teams from Northwestern, UIC, Kenyon, and Missouri State will compete, as will women's teams from Illinois, Nebraska and Iowa State.
REVIEWING LAST WEEK: Cleveland State had a busy weekend with the women's team in action on Friday (Nov. 11) night, knocking off host Youngstown State and Duquesne. The women rejoined the men's team as both team's defeated St. Bonaventure and league foe Valparaiso at the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium on Saturday (Nov. 12).
MEN -
Cleveland State 144, St. Bonaventure 99 (Nov. 12)
Cleveland State 200 Valparaiso 37 (Nov. 12)
A pair of one-two-three finishes in the 50 and 100 free helped the Vikings get past Valparaiso and St. Bonaventure at the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium. Nathan Grant (200 free and 200 breast) and Justin Kermack (200 IM and 200 fly) each picked up two wins. Justin Hill (50 free), Berry Thompson (100 free), Jon Querciagrossa (500 free) and Colin Hanner (200 back) each won an event and CSU took the 400 free relay with a time of 3:08.40. Senior diver Josh Gonzalez finished second in both the 1-meter (269.17) and 3-meter (318.37) diving events.
WOMEN -
Cleveland State 140, Youngstown State 97 (Nov. 11)
Cleveland State 133.5, Duquesne 91.5 (Nov. 11)
Cleveland State 141, St. Bonaventure 96 (Nov. 12)
Cleveland State 173, Valparaiso 56 (Nov. 12)
The Vikings won 11 of 13 events on both Friday (Nov. 11) and Saturday (Nov. 12) to go 4-0 on the weekend and earn two Horizon League wins. Horizon League 'Swimmer of the Week' Alice Sommerville was a perfect six-for-six over the weekend, including four individual victories and a pair of relay wins. Alexandra Johansson was a perfect three-for-three on Friday night and added two more relay wins on Saturday. Carys Behn was unblemished on Saturday, winning all three of her races. Kacey Cummings, the Horizon League 'Diver of the Week', took the 3-meter event on Friday night before sweeping the 1-meter and 3-meter on Saturday.
AWARDS ALL AROUND: On Tuesday (Nov. 15), the league announced Kacey Cummings as the 'Diver of the Week' for the second time this season and Nathan Grant and Alice Sommerville as the 'Swimmer of the Week'. That brings the total to six different Vikings who have been honored by the Horizon League as an athlete of the week. Josh Gonzalez was named 'Diver of the Week' on Oct. 8 and then again on Oct. 24. Cummings was named the 'Diver of the Week' for the first time this season on Oct. 18, the same day Justin Hill was announced as 'Swimmer of the Week'. On Oct. 24, Joanna Olsson was also named 'Swimmer of the Week' for her performance against Green Bay on Oct. 22.
FAB FRESHMEN: Freshmen Nathan Grant and Jon Querciagrossa have made an impact early in their college careers. Grant has swam the fastest 200 free (1:41.86) and 200 breast (2:07.51) by any Viking this year while also swimming on the quickest 200 free relay and 200 medley relay teams. Querciagrossa has the best 500 free time (4:40.49), and the third best times on the team in the 200 free (1:45.51), 1,000 free (10:03.13) and 100 back (54.87).
PREVIEWING THE WOMEN: After setting a record for most wins (15) in a season last year and losing just four members of that team, expectations are again very high for the CSU women's swimming and diving team. The team broke eight league and 10 school records at the 2010-11 Horizon League Championships and the key contributors are all back.
Seven program freestyle records fell in 2010-11. Alice Sommerville set the 50 free (23.06) record in the first leg of the 200 league record-setting free relay (1:31.63) at the League Championships. Carys Behn set new league times in the 100 (50.23) and 200 (1:48.05) while Joanna Olsson broke the school record in the 500 free (4:53.56).
That trio will pair with Gretchen Hestley (200: 1:52.78), Alexandra Johansson (50: 23.71) and Christine Kopacko (50: 23.66) to highlight the free events and chase after the three Horizon League records (200 free relay, 400 free relay: 3:23.89 and 800 free relay: 7:27.75) the team set at the League Championships. Ashley Rossi is a key contributor in the distance events, finishing with the seventh best time in CSU history in the 1,000 free (10:37.17) and second in the 1,650 free (17:37.10). Emily Simard, Allison Pallija and Rachel Arzadon handle the bulk of the load in the breast events. Alice Sommerville swam the fastest 50 (29.09) and 100 (1:04.25), but the others were consistent in the breast events. Simard was second on the team in the 100 breast (1:05.36) while Pallija (1:05.95) and Arzadon (1:06.38) weren't far behind.
Alexandra Johansson swam the fastest 100 back (56.16) in school history as a freshman, a time that was almost a full second faster than the prior record. She figures to only get better while her classmate Nikki Kolis had times that put
her in the top-10 in program history in the 100 back (58.29) and 200 back (2:07.41).Those two were just freshmen last year, and a new pair of rookies in Erin Bender and Rachel Grove are added to add young talent in the back events.
In each of the last two seasons, Joanna Olsson set the school record in both the 200 (2:03.94) and 400 (4:19.76) IM events. Gretchen Hestley's 2:05.81 ranks second in program history behind Olsson and she figures to improve. Three freshmen - Erin Bender, Megan Splain and Liz Tamas - join the IM bunch, group with Arzadon, the Pallijas and Simard.
After qualifying for the NCAA Zone Championships for the second consecutive year, senior Kacey Cummings is primed for her final year at CSU. She was named the Horizon League `Diver of the Year' after winning the 1-meter (262.75) and placing third in the 3-meter (279.85) at the League Championships last season. Kathleen Chandler and Alexandra DiMasso both impressed last year as freshman and can build on their first year competing at the collegiate level.
PREVIEWING THE MEN: Three Vikings turned in a time in 2010 in the 50 free that put them in the top-10 in CSU history, led by Justin Hill (20.12) who swam his record time in a relay. Berry Thompson (20.49) and Alex Lewis (20.53) were also close to the top of the list while both excelled in the 100 free. Thompson set the school record (44.07) and Lewis had the eighth best time (45.54) in the 100. Those three will grab a fourth and challenge for the relay record they set in the 200 free last year. They were also just off the pace in the 400 free relay, and provide a serious threat this year.
Lewis and Justin Kermack are the most notable performers in the fly events. Kermack broke the school record in the 200 (1:48.40) and Lewis recorded the fourth best time in school history in the 100 fly (48.96).
Berry Thompson's 48.59 in the 100 fly was 10th best in school history and Travis Lombardozzi came on strong at the end of the season and should keep it going in 2011-12.
Brian Ferro was terrific in his rookie season, leading the team in the 50 (27.02), 100 (56.77) and 200 (2:02.34) breast events. Pedrom Kheirandish came on strong at the end of the season and his times at the Time Trial Meet put him second on the team in the 100 (57.55) and 200 (2:07.92). If he can carry the momentum into 2011-12, he could be a big boost to the Vikings efforts in the breast events. Sophomore Mason Allen (100: 1:00.19) and freshman Nathan Grant round out the group in the breast events.
Al Shillito was stellar in the back events, turning in the fifth best time in school history in the 100 (50.82) and the fourth quickest 200 (1:49.66) in CSU history. Colin Hanner was second on the team in the 50 (24.45), 100 (51.91) and 200 (1:52.76) breast events. Ryan Blankenship was just behind Hanner, touching the wall in 1:52.86 in the 200 breast at the Horizon League Championships.
The staff is high on freshman Jon Querciagrossa, but also have more experienced breast swimmers like Justin Hill (50: 24.85, 100: 52.39) and Matt Falgoust (50: 25.84, 100: 52.78).
As a freshman, Kermack was brilliant in the IM events, earning the seventh best time in school history in the 200 IM (1:51.97) and third quickest 400 IM (3:59.05). Kermack's classmate Brian Ferro's 1:52.31 in the 200 IM was ninth best in CSU history while he was also clocked at 4:08.17 in the 400.
Diving coach Rich Karban is lucky to have a pair of seniors in Josh Gonzalez and Matt DiMasso to compete this season, but also to tutor underclassmen. Gonzalez, the `Diver of the Meet' at the 2010 Horizon League Championships leads the diving group. He qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships for the second consecutive season last year and has a chance to repeat that accomplishment for the third time in his career. DiMasso's 3-meter (283.60) at the City College Meet was a new career best and he had a solid junior campaign.
NEXT UP: The Vikings will return home to host the Cleveland Dual Meet Invitational against Notre Dame College, Canisius and John Carroll on Tuesday, Nov. 29. Diving events will begin at 3:00 p.m. with the swimming events getting started at 5:00 p.m.
