Cleveland State, Wisconsin-Green Bay win 2006 Horizon League Swimming & Diving Championships
Feb. 26, 2006
The 2006 Horizon League Swimming & Diving Championships concluded Saturday, with the Cleveland State Vikings claiming their first team title in any sport since 1999. The Viking men defeated three-time defending champion
CSU, which had entered the final day leading WSU by 67.5 points (579-511.5), came out firing right out of the gates as junior Bjorn Schantz claimed his third freestyle event of the week with a 15:38.81 in the 1,650 freestyle.
Senior Pieter Pelser followed Schantz's lead, claiming the 200 backstroke in a school-record time of 1:47.42 for his second title of the tournament and the second season in a row that he has swept the event in the championship.
Sophomore's Brady Lusk and Khaled Elgamal followed up Schantz with strong times in the mile, with Lusk placing sixth with a time of 16:15.10 and Elgamal swimming to a ninth-place 16:30.86. In the 200 back, sophomore Ari Markle backed Pelser's showing with a fifth-place time of 1:54.84.
The honors continued for the Vikings following the meet, as Schantz claimed both the Men's Swimmer of the Meet award and the Male Swim Athlete of the Year crown, senior Thatcher Carr captured his second Diver of the Meet award and head diving coach Rich Karban earned his third-straight Men's Diving Coach of the Year award.
The Vikings finished the meet with eight individual and a pair of relay titles, including three by Schantz (500, 1,000 and 1,650 free) and Pelser with two (100 and 200 backstroke).
The second-place Raiders won two titles on day four, as Elvis Cirikovic won the men's 100-yard freestyle in 44.92 and Rafael Candido earned a victory in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:04.67. WSU's Scott Lang finished second in the 1650 free and both Aaron Eckstein (200 backstroke) and Warren Thompson (200 breaststroke) added second-place finishes, but in the end, the effort wasn't enough to stop the Vikings from earning their first team title in any sport since 1999.
For the second consecutive year, the members of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay women's swimming and diving team can call themselves Horizon League champions. The
UWGB posted a total of 805 points, compared to 772 for the Raiders. Phoenix freshman and Green Bay native Danielle DeGrand was named the league's women's newcomer of the year, after winning her second individual event of these championships, winning the 200-yd backstroke over University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Molly Finn. DeGrand touched the wall in 2:04.01
Allison Kreb also aided the
With the second-straight win for the
Third-place finisher UW-Milwaukee boasted four individual wins on the evening, including one from both Molly Finn and Lindsay Caldwell. Caldwell, who was named both Women's Swimmer of the Meet and Athlete of the Year, finished first in the 100 freestyle (50.94). Finn, after losing out to DeGrand in the 200 backstroke, won the title in the 200 butterfly, touching the wall in 2:05.01.
Final Women's
Wright State - 772
UW-Milwaukee - 764
UIC - 479.5
Final Men's
Wright State - 742.5
UIC - 660.5
UW-Green Bay - 527
UW-Milwaukee - 512
Women's Awards
Swimmer of the Meet: Lindsay Caldwell, UW-Milwaukee
Diver of the Meet: Erin Blemberg, UW-Milwaukee
Athlete of the Year: Lindsay Caldwell, UW-Milwaukee
Newcomer of the Year: Danielle DeGrand,
Swimming Coach of the Year: Jim Merner,
Diving Coach of the Year: Todd Hill, UW-Milwaukee
Men's Awards
Swimmer of the Meet: Bjorn Schantz, Cleveland State
Diver of the Meet: Thatcher Carr, Cleveland State
Athlete of the Year: Bjorn Schantz, Cleveland State
Newcomer of the Year: Damian Kurtyka, UW-Green Bay
Co-Swimming Coach of the Year: Wally Morton, Cleveland State & Sion Brinn,
Wright State
Diving Coach of the Year: Rich Karban, Cleveland State
Story information provided by Chris Urban, Cleveland State Sports Information & Nick Brilowski, UW-Green Bay Sports Information
