Nov. 8, 2012

Weekly Release

SETTING THE SCENE
The Viking men and women will be back in the pool together as they head to St. Bonaventure N.Y. to take on St. Bonaventure this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. The CSU men will head into the weekend with a 5-1 record, with the women coming in at 3-2. Cleveland State and St. Bonaventure have a long history of competition in the pool, going back almost 40 years.

"We have great respect for this year's edition of the St. Bonaventure swimming and diving team," said Cleveland State Swimming coach Wally Morton. "They have both quality and balance in their lineup and as a result it will be a tough challenge to go into their technologically limited facility and swim at a high level."

"The test will be to adapt to less than ideal conditions and perform at a high level," he added. "We're not concerned about the score but we're concerned about competing in each race."

REVIEWING LAST WEEK
While the Cleveland State Viking women had last weekend off, the men traveled to Oxford, Ohio to take on the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks. For the second time in three seasons the Vikings and Redhawks finished the meet dead even, tied 150-150.

MEN- CSU, 150, Miami 150

In what is one of the most interesting developments on the young seaosn, the CSU men tied with Miami (Ohio) at 150 this past Saturday. The Vikings had four swimmers win multiple events on the day, with senior Berry Thompson leading the way with three wins. Thompson came away with wins in both the 50-yard (20.63) and 100-yard free (46.07), as well as being a member of the 400 free relay (3:05.26). Joining Thompson with multiple wins included one other senior and two juniors. Senior Mark De Swardt won both the 500 freestyle (4:41.19) and 1,000 freestyle (9:36.92). The seniors were joined by juniors Brian Ferro, who won the 100 breast (57.99) and the 200 breast (2:07.49), as well as Al Shillito, who won the 100 backstroke (52.01) and 200 backstroke (1:52.49).

AWARDS ALL AROUND
Two different Vikings have been awarded on this young season as Horizon League 'Swimmer of the Week.' Both senior Joanna Olsson and junior Al Shillito picked up the league wide honors for the week of October 19th following their performances at Green Bay the weekend before. Each swimmer picked up three wins in the meet vs the Phoenix.

FAB FRESHMAN
The Cleveland State Viking freshman seem to be mixing in seemlessly with the veteran groups on both the men's and women's squads. Two freshman have jumped right in and are currently leading the Vikings on the diving side of things. Danny Roberts has the top 1-meter and 3-meter diving scores for the men, with Sammie Sposet doing the same for the women. In the pool on the men's side freshman Martin Persson has the team's top 200 freestyle time (1:44.46), and Mike Pavlak has the team's top time in the 50 breast (29.10). For the women, freshman Jodi Turk has the team's top time in the 500-yard (5:08.90) and 1000-yard freestyle (10:26.94).

UPPERCLASSMAN LEADING THE WAY
While the 2011-12 men's and women's swimming and diving squads could be defined by younger swimmers stepping up, the seniors and juniors have led the way this year on both the men's and women's sides.

On the men's side senior Berry Thompson currently has the team's top time on the year in both the 50 and 100 freestyle. Another senior, Mark De Swardt, currently has the team's top time in both the 500 and 1,000 freestyle. Classmate Alex Cohara is also the Vikings' top swimmer in both the 100 butterfly and 400 IM. Juniors Brian Ferro and Al Shillito are two other swimmers that lead the team in two events on the young season.

Looking at the women, there have also been a variety of juniors and seniors leading the way. Senior Joanna Olsson has led the way with for the Vikings with the team's top time in the 200 freestyle, 200 butterfly, and 400 IM. Two juniors, Alexandra Johansson and Alice Sommerville also both hold hold multipe top times individually as upperclassman for CSU. Johansson has the team's top time in the 50 freestyle, 100 backstroke, and 200 IM. Sommerville currently has the team's top time in 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly, and 100 and 200 breastrokes.

PREVIEWING THE WOMEN
The Cleveland State women's swimming and diving team is coming off a 12-4 finish in 2011-12, and ready to continue the program's rise towards the top of the Horizon League in 2012-13.

Similar to the men's side of the pool, the Viking returners this season are a record-breaking bunch. The group broke 11 individual swimming school records, and four relay school records.

School records weren't the only records to fall last season, league records fell to returning CSU swimmers as well. Joanna Olsson was able to break the 400 IM record with a time of 4:19.57, and three returners (Alice Sommerville, Christine Kopacko, and Alexandra Johansson) were members of the league record breaking 200 free relay team (1:31.18).

The chance for those records to fall again this season is there for CSU, as each swimmer who broke an individual record last year is back in the pool in 2012-13. With top returners in multiple individual events this season, there is nowhere to go but up for the team and program.

A few of those key returners include Alice Sommerville (freestyle/butterfly/breaststroke), Alexandra Johansson (freestyle/butterfly/backstroke), Joanna Olsson (butterfly/breaststroke/IM), Gretchen Hestley (freestyle/IM), and Nicole Kolis (freestyle/backstroke).

Head Coach Wally Morton mentioned Sommerville and Olsson as being two of the top swimmers in program history, with big things expected of them in the year ahead. Similar to the men's squad, the Viking women's team will also be bringing a very successful and promising freshman class.

Four swimmers and one diver will be joining the team this upcoming season, and they will be looking to add depth to that already strong returning group.

Those freshmen include Kayley Chevalier (IM/backstroke), Jill Rothgery (freestyle), Jodi Turk (IM), Madison Wolfe (backstroke, butterfly), and Samantha Sposet (diving).

PREVIEWING THE MEN
The men's Cleveland State swimming and diving team is coming off strong and record-breaking 2011-12 season, and ready to improve on those results this upcoming season.

The squad will be looking to improve on an 11-4 record that saw them win nine of their last 10 meets.

Individually, three different Vikings were able to break records last season, with all three returning in 2012-13. Senior Berry Thompson broke the record in the 100-yard freestyle (43.33), junior Alex Lewis broke the record in the 100-yard butterfly (48.28), and junior Justin Kermack broke the record in the 200-yard butterfly (1:47.30). All three of those records came at the Horizon League Championships, where the Vikings finished second as a team.

As the men's squad looks ahead to this season, the three swimmers mentioned above will in no way be the only strong returners. Looking at the team's top times from 2011-12, every single top time was swam by a swimmer returning to the pool for Cleveland State this year.

Other top returners outside the three mentioned above include, Nathan Grant (swam team's top time in the 200 freestyle, and the 50, 100, and 200 breaststrokes, George Thoresen (swam the team's top time in the 500 and 1,000 freestyle), Al Shillito (swam the team's top time in the 100 and 200 backstroke), and Jon Querciagrossa (swam the team's top time in the 1,650 freestyle).

Even with all of the top returners, the best men's swimmer may be one who missed all of last year with an injury, senior Mark De Swardt.

"Mark is arguably individually in terms of his events the greatest swimmer in the history of the Horizon League," said Head Coach Wally Morton on his returning senior.

He also mentioned both Cohara and Thoresen going along with De Swardt to lead the distance, and guys like Berry Thompson and Justin Hill leading the sprinters group. While the men's team will have an impressive amount of returners, they will be filling in spots with a talented incoming freshman class as well.

The freshman class in 2012-12 features a strong group of six swimmers as well as one diver. These swimmers include Vaughn Dueble (sprints), Mauricio Gonzalez (freestyle, butterfly), Adam Ingledew (freestyle, backstroke), Michael Pavlak (IM, backstroke), Martin Persson (freestyle), and Alex Strawser (breaststroke, IM). The new diver added to the program is Danny Roberts.

NEXT UP
The Vikings will be back home next weekend as they get ready to host the three day long CSU Viking Invitational. The Invitational will take place next Friday through Sunday at the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium on the Cleveland State campus.