Swimming & Diving Weekly Release #19: Championship Review

March 1, 2006

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Horizon League Swimmers of the Meet

Bjorn Schantz

Cleveland State, Junior, Loddekopinge, Sweden

Schantz won three individual titles at this year's championship, winning the 500, 1000 and 1650 freestyle events on his way to claiming Swimmer of the Meet honors.  He was also a part of the record-setting 800 freestyle relay team, swimming a 1:37.57 leg as the anchor. During the season, Schantz was named Horizon League Swimmer of the Week on three occasions (Nov. 30, Jan. 25 and Feb. 8).

Lindsay Caldwell

UW-Milwaukee, Junior, West Bend, Wis.

Caldwell broke the Horizon League record in the 100 freestyle and was part of four record-breaking relay teams as she earned Swimmer of the Meet honors at the 2006 Championships.  During the season, Caldwell record some of the nation's fastest times in both the 50 and 100 freestyle and was named Horizon League Swimmer of the Week twice (Nov. 21 and Dec. 7).

Other Award Winners

Divers of the Meet

Thatcher Carr- Cleveland State, Senior, Russell, Ohio

Erin Blemberg- UW-Milwaukee, Senior, Appleton, Wis.

Newcomers of the Year

Damian Kurtyka- UW-Green Bay, Freshman, Toronto, Ontario

Danielle DeGrand- UW-Green Bay, Freshman, Green Bay, Wis.

Women's Swimming Coach of the Year:

Jim Merner, UW-Green Bay

Women's Diving Coach of the Year:

Todd Hill, UW-Milwaukee

Men's Co-Swimming Coaches of the Year:

Wally Morton, Cleveland State

Sion Brinn, Wright State

Men's Diving Coach of the Year:

Rich Karban, Cleveland State

Cleveland State, UW-Green Bay earn 2006 Swimming & Diving titles

Vikings earn first title since 1999, while Phoenix earn second straight

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 Wright State to win the crown, while the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay women won their second-straight title.

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 Phoenix held off Wright State to earn a 33-point victory Saturday evening at Busbey Natatorium on the Cleveland State University campus.

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 Phoenix effort, completing her sweep of the breaststroke events by winning the 200 title Saturday with a time of 2:20.08.

With the second-straight win for the Phoenix came the second consecutive runner-up finish for the Wright State Raiders.  The Raiders boasted one individual win on the day, a victory by Catalina Martinez in the women's 1650 freestyle in 17:19.77, while Svetlana Nepocatych finished second in the 100 free and Jessica Weidert took second in the 200 breaststroke.

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. 

The Panthers also received a boost from its diving team.  Senior Erin Blemberg earned the 3-meter title to sweep both diving events, while teammates Crystal Syzmanski, Emily Duesler and Jenna Kotlarz rounded out the top four.

Multiple League Records Fall at 2006 Championships

Eleven new marks set in four days at Robert F. Busbey Natatorium

Eleven championship records fell over the weekend at the 2006 Horizon League Swimming & Diving Championships, giving further support to the claim that Robert F. Busbey Natatorium, the site of this year's meet on the campus of Cleveland State University, is the "fastest pool in the League." 

Men's champion Cleveland State and women's champion UW-Green Bay each posted three record-breaking times, while both the UW-Milwaukee women and UIC men boasted two new marks.

Horizon League Swimmers of the Meet and Athletes of the Year Bjorn Schantz of Cleveland State and Lindsay Caldwell of UW-Milwaukee added to their impressive list of accomplishments this season, as Schantz set two individual records in the 500  and 1000 freestyle and Caldwell surpassed her own League-best time in the 100 freestyle with a 50.94 mark. Schantz's time of 4:24.65 bested former Viking Henk Maarkgraaf's time of 4:26.10, while his 9:17.93 mark in the 1000 free topped WSU's Scott Lang's previous record of 9:22.92.

UIC's Blake Booher and UW-Green Bay's Allison Kreb posted the other individual records at the meet, with Booher setting the mark in the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.23 and Kreb entering the record books with a time of 2:20.08 in the 200 breaststroke.

Three of the four swimmers setting individual marks were also part of record-breaking relay teams.  Caldwell took part in the record-setting 400 medley relay, Booher swam on both the 400 freestyle and 200 medley relays teams for the Flames and Schantz anchored the 800 freestyle relay team for the Vikings.

The Phoenix set two new relay records in the 200 and 800 freestyle relays.  The team of Kelsey Hausken, Kristin Carlson, Danielle DeGrand and Dana Doute finished the 200 relay in 1:35.65 to remove Wright State's 2003 finish from the record book, while the Doute, DeGrand, Carlson and Laura Yelton beat the record set last year by the Phoenix in the 800 free relay with a time of 7:37.23.

Two League teams ranked in CSCAA Mid-Major Poll

Two Horizon League teams are ranked in the top 25 of the College Swim Coaches Association of America Division I Mid-Major Poll, last announced Feb. 7. On the men's side, both the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Wright State University earned a top 25 ranking, with the Panthers coming in at No. 17 with 228.56 points followed by the Raiders at No. 23 (222.63).  Princeton University leads the men's poll with 248.32 points.

On the women's side, UW-Milwaukee is ranked 16th among mid-major programs with 228.81 points, behind overall leader Harvard University with 244.77.

The CSCAA mid-major poll is officially released four times throughout the swimming and diving season, November 15, December 21, February 7 and March 7. The poll includes schools from the America East, Atlantic 10, Big West, Colonial Athletic Association, EISL, Horizon League, Ivy League, Metro Atlantic, Mid-America, Mid-Continent, Missouri Valley, North Eastern, Patriot and Sun Belt conferences.