Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships Begin Wednesday

Vikings Finished Third in 2011

Feb. 21, 2012

Contact: Tim Ertle

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League Championships Notes

2012 Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships Official Homepage

THE MAIN EVENT: The Vikings (women: 12-4, men: 11-4) will see where they stack-up against the rest of the league at the 2012 Horizon League Championships, hosted Wednesday (Feb. 22) through Saturday (Feb. 25) in Brown Deer, Wis. Both the women (5-0) and men (4-0) were undefeated against league opponents during the regular season.

THE SCHEDULE: Swimming trials begin at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Finals begin at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday and at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday.

Below is a schedule of events by day:
Wednesday - February 22
• 3-Meter Diving - Men's Prelims
• 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
• 1,000 Yard Freestyle
• 3-Meter Diving - Men's Finals
• 200 Yard Medley Relay

Thursday - February 23
• 500 Yard Freestyle
• 200 Yard Individual Medley
• 50 Yard Freestyle
• 1-Meter Diving - Women's Prelims
• 1-Meter Diving - Women's Finals
• 400 Yard Medley Relay

Friday - February 24
• 400 Yard Individual Medley
• 100 Yard Butterfly
• 200 Yard Freestyle
• 100 Yard Breaststroke
• 100 Yard Backstroke
• 1-Meter Diving - Men's Prelims
• 1-Meter Diving - Men's Finals
• 800 Yard Freestyle Relay

Saturday - February 25
• 1,650 Yard Freestyle
• 200 Yard Backstroke
• 100 Yard Freestyle
• 200 Yard Breaststroke
• 200 Yard Butterfly
• 3-Meter Diving - Women's Prelims
• 3-Meter Diving - Women's Finals
• 400 Yard Freestyle Relay

FOLLOW THE ACTION: Fans can follow the finals live through the Horizon League Network, available by visiting www.HorizonLeague.org.

2011 HORIZON LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS RECAP: Carys Behn was a co-'Performer of the Meet' with Milwaukee's Emily McClellan and Kacey Cummings was the 'Diver of the Meet'. Mark de Swardt and Wright State's Hermanus Botha shared 'Performer of the Meet' honors and Green Bay's Daniel Pogue was the 'Diver of the Meet'. Below are the final scores of last year's league meet:

Women - Team Scores
1. Green Bay (788.5)
2. Milwaukee (685)
3. Cleveland State (625.5)
4. Wright State (558)
5. UIC (453)
6. Youngstown State (308.5)
7. Valparaiso (126)
8. Butler (93.5)

Men - Team Scores
1. Milwaukee (820)
2. UIC (793)
3. Cleveland State (696)
4. Wright State (491)
5. Green Bay (481)
6. Valparaiso (117)

DEFEND THE CROWN: Many Cleveland State student-athletes will have an opportunity to defend a crown from last year's Horizon League Championships. Below is a list of Vikings who won in 2011 and are back this season:

Carys Behn: 100, 200 and 500 free
Joanna Olsson: 400 IM
Alexandra Johansson: 100 back
Kacey Cummings: 1-meter board

Cleveland State also won five relays at the 2011 championships - one on the men's side and four from the women.

Women's 200 Free Relay: Alice Sommerville, Carys Behn, Gretchen Hestley and Alexandra Johannson
Men's 200 Free Relay: Justin Hill, Alex Lewis and Berry Thompson made up three-fourths of last year's top quartet
Women's 200 Medley Relay: Alexandra Johannson, Alice Sommerville, Carys Behn and Gretchen Hestley
Women's 400 Free Relay: Carys Behn, Alice Sommerville, Joanna Olsson and Alexandra Johansson
Women's 800 Free Relay: Joanna Olsson, Carys Behn, Christine Kopacko and Gretchen Hestley

REVIEWING THE LAST TIME OUT: The Vikings men and women each defeated UIC on Senior Day (Feb. 4) to finish the regular season unbeaten at home and undefeated against league opponents. Below is a quick recap:

MEN -
CSU's senior class was sent out in style as the Vikings beat UIC 138-105 thanks to taking seven events. The Vikings swept the relays, taking the 400 medley (3:24.60) and 400 free (3:04.74). Individual winners included Nathan Grant, Justin Hill, Justin Kermack, Al Shillito and Berry Thompson. Thompson was named the Horizon League's 'Swimmer of the Week' after he had a hand in 24 team points and a role in two CSU victories.

WOMEN -
Two wins each from Carys Behn, Joanna Olsson and Alice Sommerville helped Cleveland State beat UIC 145-98 on Feb. 4. The Vikings also took the 400 free relay (3:29.68) and received wins from Alexandra Johansson in the 200 back (2:06.37) and Kacey Cummings - competing for the final time at home - in the 3-meter diving event (288.90).

AWARDS ALL AROUND: While the goal remains to win the team titles this week, the Vikings have received outstanding individual performances that have been rewarded with athlete of the week honors. Below is a look at CSU student-athletes who have been recognized by the Horizon League:

CSU Athletes of the Week
Josh Gonzalez - Oct. 3-9 (Diver of the Week)
Kacey Cummings - Oct. 10-16 (Diver of the Week)
Justin Hill - Oct. 10-16 (Swimmer of the Week)
Josh Gonzalez - Oct. 17-23 (Diver of the Week)
Joanna Olsson - Oct. 17-23 (Swimmer of the Week)
Kacey Cummings - Nov. 7-13 (Diver of the Week)
Nathan Grant - Nov. 7-13 (Swimmer of the Week)
Alice Sommerville - Nov. 7-13 (Swimmer of the Week)
Josh Gonzalez - Nov. 14-20 (Diver of the Week)
Alice Sommerville - Nov. 14-20 (Swimmer of the Week)
Berry Thompson - Nov. 14-20 (Swimmer of the Week)
Kacey Cummings - Nov. 28-Dec. 4 (Diver of the Week)
Berry Thompson - Jan. 9-15 (Swimmer of the Week)
Berry Thompson - Jan. 30-Feb. 5 (Swimmer of the Week)

Student-athletes from every school except Valparaiso have won the Men's 'Swimmer of the Week' award, while the Vikings and Milwaukee lead the way with three different winners and CSU's Berry Thompson was the only swimmer to win the award three times this season.

With a total of three Women's 'Swimmer of the Week' winners, CSU trailed only Milwaukee who had a league-best five winners. CSU's Alice Sommerville was the only female in the league to win the award more than once.

Entering this weekend, four different student-athletes have been named Men's 'Diver of the Week'. Cleveland State's Josh Gonzalez has won it three times and trails only Green Bay's Daniel Pogue who received the honor a league-high four times. With three weekly awards this season, Cleveland State senior Kacey Cummings has received the honor seven times in her career. She is tied with Youngstown State's Casey Hill for the most 'Diver of the Week' honors so far this season. Milwaukee and UIC each had two different divers win the award for female 'Diver of the Week'.

WINNING SEASONS: With the women racking up 12 wins and the men recording 11 victories on the year, each team locked up a winning season to continue an impressive streak. The Viking men clinched their 14th consecutive winning season as they have finished every season since 1998-99 with a winning percentage over .500, the longest such streak in program history. The women have three straight winning seasons and their third consecutive 10-win season. The only other 10-win season in the history of the women's program was in 1982-83.