Swimming & Diving Weekly Release #1

Oct. 17, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS -

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MALE SWIMMER OF THE WEEK

Alex Hill
Green Bay
Sophomore
Lakeville, Minn.
Hill won the 500 freestyle against powerhouse Wisconsin in Green Bay's only victory of the dual. He swam a time of 4:44.37, while also placing second in the 200 freestyle (1:45.55).

FEMALE SWIMMER OF THE WEEK

Andrea Giczewski
UIC
Senior
Livonia, Mich.
Giczewski anchored the winning 200 medley relay, while also nabbing first in the 50 freestyle (24.48) and the 100 freestyle (53.83) in a dual against Eastern Illinois.

MALE DIVER OF THE WEEK

PJ Rongitsch
Milwaukee
Sophomore
Eagan, Minn.
Rongitsch recorded two second-place finishes against Wisconsin. On the one-meter board, he totaled 318.75, topping his career-high of 277.60. He also charted a career-best 335.70 in the three-meter event. Both scores were above Zone qualifying standards.

FEMALE DIVER OF THE WEEK

Ashley Hall
Milwaukee
Junior
New Berlin, Wis.
Hall made a nice contribution in her first meet as a Panther, leading her team in the diving events against Wisconsin. She took third on the one-meter (263.75) and third on the three-meter (275.55).

Other Men's Top Performers

Dan Baiko
Cleveland State
Sr., Brecksville, Ohio
Baiko won the three-meter (308.70) and the one-meter diving events (278.70) against Valparaiso on Saturday (Oct. 13).

Dave Duecker
Cleveland State
Sr., Cedarburg, Wis.
Duecker won three events in the dual against Valpo, including the 1000 freestyle (9:55.46), the 200 butterfly (1:59.14) and the 500 freestyle (4:51.42).

Bobby Balow
Green Bay
Sr., Racine, Wis.
Balow had two team-best fourth-place finishes against Wisconsin, scoring 211.58 in the three-meter event, and 226.73 on the one-meter board.

Robby Leibold
Milwaukee
Jr., Neenah, Wis.
Leibold helped lead the Panthers in their season-opener against Wisconsin by winning the 1000 freestyle by eight seconds with a time of 9:41.69. He also took second in the 500 freestyle with 4:44.31.

Kurtis Malone
Valparaiso
Fr., Pekin, Ill.
Malone finished second in both the three-meter (189.60) and the one-meter (222.60) in his collegiate debut against CSU.

David Sivak
Valparaiso
Fr., Hobart, Ind.
Sivak finished second in the 50 freestyle (22.15), which was Valpo's top finish against CSU. He also placed third in the100 freestyle (50.16) and helped the 400 freestyle relay to second place.

Tristan Oleynik
UIC
Jr., Wheaton, Ill.
Oleynik led the Flames diving squad with a second-place finish in the one-meter and a third-place in the three-meter against Eastern Illinois on Saturday.

Steve Yemm
UIC
Fr., Sterling, Ill.
In his first collegiate meet, Yemm anchored the winning 200 Medley relay, and then followed that up with wins in both the 50 freestyle (22.04) and the 100 butterfly (51.68) against Eastern Illinois.

Other Women's Top Performers

Sandra Bunker
Cleveland State
Jr., Woodbridge, Ontario
Bunker finished first in the 200 backstroke (2:16.88) and anchored the winning 400 freestyle relay team against Valpo. She also led the 400 medley relay team to a second-place finish.

Trisha Simon
Cleveland State
Sr., Brunswick, Ohio
Simon earned a second-place finish in the one-meter diving event against Valpo (185.90).

Shannon Demrow
Green Bay
Fr., Algonquin, Ill.
Demrow had a great meet against Wisconsin in her collegiate debut. She nabbed second-place in both the 1000 freestyle (10:42.09) and the 500 freestyle (5:10.32), recording two of four runner-up finishes for the Phoenix, their best of the dual.

Kari Helland
Green Bay
Sr., Wayzata, Minn.
Helland had a pair of second-place performances against Wisconsin, missing victory in the one-meter (211.13) by 3.15 points and the three-meter (220.80) by 1.58 points.

Sonia Peterson
UIC
Fr., Morton Grove, Ill.
In her first collegiate meet, Peterson won the one-meter (210.75) and three-meter (203.45) diving events against Eastern Illinois.

Grace Arnold
Valparaiso
Fr., Glendora Calif.
Arnold registered three victories in her first meet as a college swimmer, winning the 500 freestyle (5:22.73), the 1000 freestyle (10:57.11) and the 200 individual medley (2:18.13).

Anna Orwick
Valparaiso
So., Broadlands, Ill.
Orwick won the one-meter diving event against CSU, with a score of 196.30.

2007 Men's Swimming and Diving Horizon League Championships

The 2007 Horizon League Swimming & Diving Championships concluded with the Wright State Raiders claiming their seventh team title after last claiming the crown in 2005. The previous year's team champion, Cleveland State, finished second, while Milwaukee took third place.

Led by junior Scott Lang, the Raiders beat out CSU by 81.5 points. Lang's victories in the 1650, 1000 and 500 freestyles, along with a first-place in the 800 freestyle relay secured the Raiders position as Horizon League champions. Aaron Eckstein picked up a victory in the 200 backstroke on the final day of competition, while Warren Thompson's win in the 100 butterfly, and Will Ehresman's victory in the 200 freestyle supplemented the Raiders' stellar performance.

The honors continued for the Raiders following the meet, as Lang claimed the Men's Swimmer of the Meet award and head swimming coach Sion Brinn earned his second-straight Coach of the Year award.

The second-place Vikings also enjoyed success at the meet, as Chris Dalman swept the two diving events to earn the Men's Diver of the Meet honor, and his coach, Rich Karban, snagged his fourth-straight Diving Coach of the Year award. Freshman Jakub Dobies secured his place as a fierce competitor as he won both the 100 and 200 breastroke events, and received the Newcomer of the Year award. UIC's Blake Booher was recognized as the League's Athlete of the Year, earning victories in the 50 and 100 freestyles, and anchoring championship efforts in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.

2007 Women's Swimming and Diving Horizon League Championships

For the third consecutive year, the members of the Green Bay women's swimming and diving team can call themselves Horizon League champions. The Phoenix held off the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to earn a 12.5-point victory last spring at Flames Natatorium on the University of Illinois at Chicago campus.

Green Bay posted a total of 845 points, compared to 832.5 for the Panthers. Highlighted by individual victories from Danielle DeGrand in the 200 individual medley and 200 backstroke, and Ashley Warzon in the 100 butterfly, the Phoenix rallied with wins in the 200 medley relay and the 800 freestyle relay.

While the past five years had been dominated by Wright State and Green Bay, the Milwaukee Panthers surpassed the Raiders to take the runner-up position. Behind Swimmer of the Meet Lindsay Caldwell's sweep of the 50, 100 and 200 freestyles, and Newcomer of the Year Shannon Berndt's domination in the breastsroke events, the Panthers came close to winning it all. Molly Finn added victories in the 200 butterfly and the 400 individual medley, while Diver of the Meet Crystal Szymanski won the one-meter diving event. Another Panther diver, Emily Duesler, won the three-meter boards.

Jim Merner received his third-straight Swimming Coach of the Year honor, as did Todd Hill of Milwaukee, winning his third consecutive Diving Coach of the Year award.