Women's Swimming And Diving Set To Travel To Youngstown State
    The Vikings Will Face Canisius, Malone and Youngstown State
    Kacey Cummings

    Kacey Cummings

    Nov. 3, 2009

    Contact: Renee Adam

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    SETTING THE SCENE: The Cleveland State men's and women's swimming and diving teams will travel to Youngstown State to continue the 2009-10 season on Friday (Nov. 6). The men's squad will face Canisius and Malone in a double dual, while the women will face Canisius, Malone and Youngstown State in a triple dual at 5:00 p.m.

    REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The men's squad made their second trip to South Bend, Indiana this season when the Vikings swam a double dual against Notre Dame and Miami (OH). CSU came out on top against Miami (OH) 181-117 and fell to Notre Dame 178-120.

    MEN (2-1) - CSU 181, Miami (OH) 117 (Oct. 31, South Bend, Ind.), Notre Dame 178, CSU 120 (Oct. 31, South Bend, Ind.):
    Jakub Dobies and Mark deSwardt once again each captured two individual event victories, while freshman Berry Thompson won the 50 free (21.26) for the second meet in a row. Dobies won the 100 (57.06) and the 200 breast (2:05.88), while deSwardt went two-for-two on the day, touching first in the 1,000 (9:29.65) and 500 free (4:37.13). The best relay finish for the Vikings came in the 200 medley relay, with Todd Winchell, Jakub Dobies, Stephen Grove and Mike Marsico finishing second with a time of 1:34.03

    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 (10:26.60), the 200 IM (2:09.05) and also the 200 fly (2:06.44) which is also a CSU record. Five-time individual school record holder, sophomore Carys Behn, has the team's best times in the 200 (1:54.63) and 500 free (5:09.62). Emily Simard has a grasp on the breaststroke events placing one and two in the 100 and 200, Simard is tops in the 100 (1:10.28) and second 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). Ferro also leads the team in the 200 breast (2:29.48). Kacey Cummings paced the Viking divers in their first meet of the season, winning both the 1- and 3-meter diving events with 247.42 and 236.70 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 273.60 and 269.85 points respectively.

    FRESHMAN PHENOM: Freshman Berry Thompson won the 50 free for the second meet in the row on Saturday, becoming just the second Viking to do so in the past eight seasons. Cleveland Brown was the last swimmer to accomplish the feat during the 2001-02 season winning the event against Green Bay, Butler and St. Bonaventure.

    CUMMINGS EARNS DIVER OF THE WEEK: Kacey Cummings became the first Viking diver to be recognized by the Horizon League this season, earning diver of the week honors following her first place finishes in the 1- and 3-meter diving events against Green Bay (10/24). In her first competitive meet in over 11 months, Cummings scored 247.42 points in the 1-meter dive and 236.70 in the 3-meter dive, sweeping the events. The last time a Viking diver won both events in the same meet was on November 11, 2008 when Cummings won both at the City College Championships. During the 2008-09 season she swept the diving events four separate times.

    DYNAMIC DUO: The tag team of Mark deSwardt and Jakub Dobies have each won two events in the first two dual meets, marking the first time that the same two athletes have won two events in consecutive meets since the beginning of the 2007-08 season. Dan Baiko and Dobies were the duo responsible for winning two events against Valparaiso and Green Bay, also respresenting the first two dual meets of the season in 2007.

    ...deSWARDT CONTINUES STREAK: Sophomore Mark deSwardt continuedhis streak of winning at least two individual events to 10 straight meets when he won the 1,000 and 500 free against Notre Dame and Maimi (OH) last Saturday. 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 nine consecutive meets and 12 out of the 13 times that he has swam the race as a Viking.

    TRIPLE THREAT: The trio of Carys Behn, Joanna Olsson and Alice Sommerville is something to be reckoned with as they have won 13 out of their 15 individual events this season. Olsson leads the group going a perfect six for six over the past two meets setting a CSU record and two additional top-10 times. Sommerville has won four out of her five individual races, finishing second in the 100 fly at Saint Francis, while Behn has gone three for four, touching second in the 200 free also at Saint Francis. Both Sommerville and Behn were outtouched by Hanna Yttring of Saint Francis, who set school records in both events.

    FEARLESS FRESHMEN: Thirteen out of the 24 top times for the 2009-10 season are held by six different freshmen on this year's squads. Alice Sommerville, Joanna Olsson and Michelle Ferro have each recorded three top times, Berry Thompson has set two times, with Emily Simard and Pierre De Waal each having one top time. At least one freshmen is also involved with six out of the seven top relay times this season, with the women's 200 medley, 400 medley and 800 free relay teams being comprised of three freshmen and one sophomore.

    RECORD SETTER: Freshman Joanna Olsson was the first swimmer to set a CSU record during the 2009-10 season, taking just three meets to do so. Olsson set a program record in the 200 fly last Saturday (10/24) when she finished in 2:06.44. She replaces the record set by Heather Henshaw 11 years ago during the 1998 season. Olsson is also knocking on the door of Carys Behn, who holds the record in the 1,000 free with a time of 10:23.19. Olsson is just three seconds shy of making a second CSU record in her freshman campaign.

    2009-10 HORIZON LEAGUE HONORS: The Cleveland State Vikings have been honored twice 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, Kacey Cummings - Oct. 27.

    NEXT UP: The men's and women's teams will host the City College Quad Meet on Tuesday (Nov. 10) at 3:00 p.m. Joining CSU will be Gannon, John Carroll and Notre Dame (OH)