Feb. 24, 2006
Cleveland State seniors Thatcher Carr, Pieter Pelser and Daniel Thomasson each picked up wins as the Cleveland State men's swimming & diving team sits on the verge of the Horizon League Championship after a strong third day of competition (Feb. 24). The Vikings (579 points) hold a 67.5 point advantage over second-place and reigning league champion Wright State (511.5) heading into the final day of the tournament at Busbey Natatorium.
After trailing Wright State's Will Ehresman by nearly a second with 50 yards remaining, Thomasson roared back with down the stretch to set a personal-best 1:39.87 for the victory in the 400 IM, while Pelser continued his dominance of the 100 backstroke, winning his third consecutive Horizon League championship by defeating UW-Green Bay's Joey Weber with a school record-setting performance of 49.58.
CSU added to their advantage thanks to dominant performances by both the diving and 800 freestyle relay teams. Carr and sophomore Chris Dalman going 1-2 on the three-meter boards, while the 800 free relay team finished out the night by setting a new Horizon League Championship record with a time of 6:41.87. Junior Bjorn Schantz, who had already claimed two individual titles coming into Friday night, swam a final leg of 1:37.57 to seal the victory over second-place Wright State (6:50.02).
Wright State continued its strong chase of the Vikings, earning two individual wins on the night. Sophomore Warren Thompson claimed his second title of the these championships, leading a 1-2-3 Raider finish in the 400 IM. Thompson touched the wall in 4:02.48, just ahead of teammates Alex Dolgov in second at 4:02.89 and Aaron Eckstein in third at 4:06.80. The Raiders also took two of the top five spots in the 100 breaststroke as senior Rafael Candido won the individual championship with a flat time of 57.00 and senior Dan Fieck finished fifth at 57.83. UIC's Stefan Staev (57.15) finished second, while UW-Milwaukee's Kyle Fyock (57.54) and CSU's Stef Potgieter (57.68) finished third and fourth, respectively.
UW-Milwaukee boasted the only other individual winner of the night as sophomore Chase Gravengood won his second league title in two days, setting a new UWM record on his way to victory in the 100 butterfly. Gravengood touched the wall in 49.18 to claim the victory, edging Kris Simos of UIC who took second at 49.51. Wright State University's Elvis Cirikovic finished third in a time of 49.74, followed by Cleveland State's Nedim Nisic at 49.86 and UIC's Ari Bernstein in fifth with a time of 49.95.
Individual wins by senior Allison Kreb and sophomore Dana Doute and a victory by the 800-yard freestyle relay squad helped the University of Wisconsin-Green women's swimming and diving team move past Wright State and into first place at the 2006 Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships Friday evening.
Doute earned UW-Green Bay's first victory of the evening by edging Wright State's Mabel Fernandez by 15 hundredths of a second to win the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:54.24. Wright State's Tina Pandza finished third with a time of 1:54.85, followed by UW-Green Bay's Kristin Carlson 1:55.28) and Laurel Yelton (1:55.47).
After qualifying with the top preliminary time in the 100-yard breaststroke, Kreb followed Doute's lead by holding off defending champion Lindsay Caldwell of UWM for a close victory. Kreb's time of 1:04.69 was good enough to defeat Caldwell by 12 hundredths of a second. Cleveland State's Marianne Lionell came in third (1:06.13), while Butler's Mary Beth Arnold (1:06.52) and UWGB's Kelsey Hausken (1:07.85) rounded out the top five.
UW-Green Bay's victory in the 800-yard free relay was its third in the four relays swum so far and its second championship meet record. The team of Doute, Carlson, Danielle DeGrand and Yelton touched first in 7:37.23 to sneak past Wright State and best the previous meet record set by the Phoenix a year ago.
Despite losing the overall lead to the Phoenix, Amy Cron did her part to keep Wright State near the top of the pack Friday night, winning individual titles in the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly. Cron touched the wall in 57.11 to defeat Kate Riebe of UW-Green Bay (57.61) for the backstroke crown, and earned the title in the 100 fly by finishing in a time of 57.06.
In addition, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Molly Finn shattered the UWM school record in winning a league title in the 400 IM, coming in at 4:28.32. She took the lead in the breaststroke and widened the gap over UW-Green Bay's Danielle DeGrand (4:29.07) in the freestyle to pull away. Wright State's Jessica Weidert finished third with a time of 4:32.35, ahead of Cleveland State's Kirsty McKechnie at 4:35.75 and UW-Green Bay's Holly Carlisle at 4:37.50.
Day Three Scores
Men's Scores
Cleveland State - 579
Wright State - 511.5
UIC - 474.5
UW-Green Bay - 388
UW-Milwaukee - 356
Butler - 153
Women's Scores
UW-Green Bay - 563
Wright State - 541
UW-Milwaukee - 452
UIC - 332.5
Cleveland State - 241.5
Youngstown State - 144
Butler - 108
Day Three: Complete Results
