Preview: Cleveland State Men

It may be a different year, but the goal for the CSU men’s swimming and diving team has stayed the same: to win the Horizon League Championship.

Under head coach Wally Morton, who is entering his 36th season with the Vikings and 29th as head coach, the squad is set to make another run at the title.

“Our team and our athletes have the potential to reach our goals this season,” Morton said. “Not only do they have the potential, but many have reached these goals in the past.”

To reach these goals, the Vikings will turn to 2009 All-American Jakub Dobies, who returns for his senior season, following his third straight trip to the NCAA championships. Dobies became the first All-American in CSU and Horizon League swimming history after a year in which he placed 13th in the 100 breaststroke at the NCAA Championships.

“We are putting a lot of emphasis on team and team balance with this year’s group,” said Morton. “We have quality swimmers returning, led by three seniors who are going to provide tremendous leadership for us.”

The three seniors will be joined by three juniors, seven sophomores and eight freshmen for the 2009-10 season. The returners own eight Horizon League titles from 2008-09 and three conference accolades including: swimmer of the meet, athlete of the year and newcomer of the year all held by sophomore Mark deSwardt.

Freestyle

Individual school record holder Stephen Grove returns as one of the team’s top freestyle sprinters. Grove set a school and Horizon League record in the 50 free during the preliminaries of the conference meet where he went on to finish third.

All-American and individual school record holder Jakub Dobies returns to join Grove in freestyle events. Setting a school record in the 100 free, Dobies earned a third place finish during the league championships. Grove and Dobies will be joined by junior Mike Marsico who is one of the fastest sprinters on the roster, showcasing his talents at the league meet while swimming the third-fastest 50 free time in school history.

Freshmen Justin Hill and Berry Thompson, fierce competitors in high school, will join forces and work together to add depth to the sprint events this season.

The freestyle mid-distance and distance are two events that CSU will have plenty of depth in this year, as four swimmers return along with five newcomers. Sophomore Horizon League Swimmer of the Year Mark deSwardt returns after winning all three of his individual events at the Horizon League Championships last year (500, 1,000 and 1,650). deSwardt is currently the top miler in the history of the program, smashing the previous record by more than 17 seconds.

Sophomore Pieter Ritz will contribute to the mid-distance and distance events, as he sets out to improve on the times he recorded last season. In his freshman season, Ritz proved himself to be one of the top swimmers in the conference.

Newcomers Pierre De Waal, Graham Thoresen, Alex Cohara, Tony Pavlosky and James Hrivnak all have the strength to be standouts in the league, rounding off a strong freestyle roster.

Butterfly

Grove will step up to lead the sprint butterfly events this year, as the team will miss Olympian Nedim Nisic’s contribution in the butterfly stroke. Grove, the school record holder in the 100, battled classmate Todd Winchell all season long as they traded school records. Winchell posted his fastest time during the preliminaries of the Horizon League Championships before finishing fourth overall.

Sophomores Travis Lombardozzi, Keith Everhart and Colin Hanner have another year of experience in the fly events and will be able to help the team throughout meets this season.

Thompson will contribute to fly events during his freshman season along with his freestyle races.

The 200 fly lineup has been retooled for the upcoming season, and will be anchored by junior Zvonimir Androic who is one of the top butterfliers on the team. Joining him will be De Waal who comes to the Vikings with an NCAA “B” cut time in the 200. With the strength of the roster, the goal is set to reach the national stage yet again this season.

Freshman Brad Bielak will add quality to the 200 fly roster after a succesful high school campaign, where he was a finalist at the YMCA Nationals.

Breaststroke

Once again Dobies is the notable breaststroker for Cleveland State. He has represented CSU for three straight years at the NCAA Championships and garnered All-American status last season after placing 13th in the 100.

Reigning 200 breaststroke league champion junior Deni Gasparin will team up with Dobies in breaststroke events. Gasparin is one of the top sprint breaststrokers in the nation, ending last season ranked 65th in the 200.

Backstroke

Winchell, Androic and Hanner are three of the best backstrokers in the conference and are returning to once again lead the team. Winchell and Androic are ranked in the top-10 all-time records in the 100, while Hanner finished third in the 200 and ninth in the 100 during the league meet last year.

Both Thoresen and Hill will be counted on to add power to the backstroke events this year after showing promising talent during the early season workouts.

Individual Medley

Dobies and Gasparin are both 200 IM league finalists and point scorers in past years, and will continue to excel in the event based on preseason workouts.

In the 400 IM, the Vikings will rely on deSwardt, who will be working to improve on his second place all-time CSU record finish he set during the regular season last year.

Thoresen, Cohara and De Waal will be tough competitors during the early meets of the season to help the team when the league championships come around in February.

Diving

Sophomore Matt DiMasso returns after a tremendous freshman season where he was a major contributor in both the 1- and 3- meter springboard diving. DiMasso was able to score in both events at the conference championships.

Sophomore transfer, Josh Gonzalez, comes to CSU from East Carolina University and is expected to be one of the top divers in the conference this year. He will excel in both the 1- and 3-meter events along with DiMasso. The combination of the two divers will be a key component to the team’s success.