Horizon League Swimming & Diving Championships: Day Two
Feb. 23, 2006
Cleveland State University's men and Wright State Univeristy's women remain atop the standings after two days of competition at the 2006 Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships. The Vikings lead Wright State by 59.5 points (328 to 268.5), while Raider women hold a 41.5 point edge of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.
In women's action, the Raiders took four of the top five spots in the 500 free, with sophomore Mabel Fernandez claiming the title in a time of 5:01.21. Teammates Catalina Martinez (5:02.56) and 2005 champion Tina Pandza (5:02.90) finished second and third, while UW-Green Bay junior Molly Cox came in fourth at 5:03.73. Wright State sophomore Kristi Fox rounded out the top five, touching the wall in 5:08.36.
UW-Green Bay held steady in second place behind strong performances in the 200 individual medley. Led by freshman Danielle DeGrand's top finish (2:06.44), the Phoenix claimed three of the top five place finishes. Allison Kreb contributed a third-place finish (2:07.61), while Holly Carlisle came in fifth (2:10.39). Univeristy of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Molly Finn finished second (2:07.30) and Wright State's Jessica Weidert finished fourth at 2:07.72.
UW-Milwaukee standout Lindsay Caldwell won her second consecutive title in the 50 freestyle, earning a time of 23:64. UW-Green Bay freshman Kelsey Hausken finished just behind Caldwell at 23.99, followed by University of Illinois at Chicago's Kelly Hyatt in third with a time of 24.24, and Colleen Dougherty of UIC and Svetlana Nepocatych in a tie for fourth at 24.31.
In the only diving action of the night, UW-Milwaukee senior Erin Blemberg scored a 280.80 in the finals to claim the Horizon League championship on the 1-meter board. Blemberg, who won seven Horizon League Diver of the Week awards this season, beat out teammates Emily Duesler (second place) and Crystal Syzmanski (fourth place), as well as UIC's Sarah Economides (third place) and Wright State's Crystal Grinstead (fifth place) to claim her first title on the 1-meter boards.
On the men's side, Cleveland State's Bjorn Schantz won his second title of these championships as he claimed the title in the 500 freestyle. Schantz finished in 4:24.65, nearly six seconds ahead of teammate Daniel Thomasson in second place (4:30.34). UWGB's Damian Kurtyka finished third at 4:30.45, followed by Scott Lang of Wright State in fourth (4:33.77) and UW-Milwaukee's Robby Leibold in fifth (4:35.32).
The men's 200 IM featured co-champions for the first time in the history of the event as Wright State's Warren Thompson and UW-Milwaukee's Chase Gravengood finished atop the League with a time of 1:51.70. Last year's champion Alex Dolgov (WSU) finished third at 1:52.80, while CSU's Pieter Pelser (1:55.41) and Nedim Nisic (1:55.32) rounded out the top five.
UIC junior Blake Booher crushed his own school record in the 50-yard freestyle for the second time this month in the preliminaries of the 50 freestyle, clocking a 20.23 time. Booher then claimed his second consecutive Horizon League championship in the event, finishing the finals with a top time of 20.37. Wright State's Elvis Cirikovic finished second with a time of 20.45, followed by UIC's LeRoy Stevens (20.91), Wright State's Zach Fisher (20.99) and UW-Milwaukee's Kyle Fyock (21.11).
The Horizon League Championships continue tomorrow at Robert F. Busbey Natatorium, with preliminaries scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m.
Day Two: Team Scores
Women's Scores
Wright State - 324.5
UW-Green Bay - 283
UW-Milwaukee - 275
UIC - 198.5
Cleveland State - 129
Youngstown State - 91
Butler - 79
Men's Scores
Cleveland State - 328
Wright State - 268.5
UIC - 258
UW-Milwaukee - 192.5
UW-Green Bay - 185
Butler - 113
