Water Vike Update
March 2019 Edition
A Note from Head Coach Kevin Rapien...
We would really like to thank our athletes, families, and alumni for the incredible support we had throughout the championship season and Giving Day. We thoroughly enjoyed sharing the “words of support” with the team on our bus rides to and from the Natatorium. To everyone in the stands and to the entire Viking Family around the world, your support did not go unnoticed. 
 
It truly helped us come together as a team and a family in a time of adversity. The encouragement and compassion they showed each other and the coaching staff was second to none and is one of the underlying reasons we finished well at the HL Championships.
 
Moving forward, our coaching staff will continue to work daily with our student athletes on their academic and athletic development as well as continue to recruit the best individuals for our program. A national search for the next Athletic Director is currently being conducted. Upon President Sands announcing the new AD, we anticipate our head coach search to closely follow. 
-Kevin
C oming together for the
Horizon League Championship!
The Cleveland State Swimming and Diving teams had a strong finish at the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championship at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis. The men finished in second place while the women took fourth place. 
 
Senior  Molly McNamara earned a pair of prestigious honors. She was the first Viking woman to win Women’s Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Year more than once and became the first Viking woman to win the Swimmer of the Meet for the first time this century.
 
Cleveland State Swimming and Diving won 5 individual Horizon League titles. Molly McNamara brought home 3 titles in the 200 Individual Medley, 100 & 200 Butterfly. In the 200 IM, Molly broke her own school record with a time of 2:01.21. Matt Martin (junior) won the 100 Butterfly and Jared Stergar (senior) won the 100 Breaststroke. 

Let's give a major round of applause to Molly McNamara for her accomplishments at the Horizon League Championship. In addition to winning all three of her events, Molly was named Women's Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Year and Women's Swimmer of the Meet. Molly became the first Viking to win the Athlete of the Year on more than one occasion (she won it last year, too!) and she became the first Viking in this century to win Swimmer of the Meet.

Special congratulations to Matt Akers for advancing through the 1-meter preliminary portion of the NCAA Zone C Diving Championship. Akers finished 16th in the 1-meter prelims with 298.65 points, the most by any athlete that did not hail from a Power Five school.
Hosting the 2019 CSCAA
National Invitational Championship
Cleveland State hosted the largest college swimming meet in the country from March 14-16... The CSCAA National Invitational Championship! This meet brought over 61 Division I Programs and more than 650 athletes to Cleveland from March 14-16 th making it the largest college swimming meet in the country. 
 
We had a half dozen Viking swimmers competing in the championship with a duo of divers competing at the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships at Purdue's Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center.
 
Timothy Kubacki (sophomore) posted a top-10 individual finish at the NIC Friday. He placed 10th in the 400 IM in 3:58.55 and scored in all three individual events he entered in the meet.
Dominik Niedzialek (sophomore) scored in an individual event for the second straight night. He placed 13th in the 100 backstroke in 48.95 seconds.

Alana Cartwright (sophomore) made it back to finals in the 100IM scoring for the CSU Women’s Swimming and Diving. 
Leading the Horizon League in
Academic Honors
For the second straight year in a row, men AND women from Cleveland State led the Horizon League in Academic All-League Honorees. The men and women both had six student-athletes honorees. Click hear to read more about this honor from the Horizon League. Congrats to the following student-athletes for this honor!
Timmy Kubacki
Sean Mulvin
Jason van der Touw
Dominik Niedzialek
Jared Stergar
Curtis Roden
Erica Henrichsen
Molly McNamara
Michaela Bargardi
Cassie Oltman
Claudia Zido
Lexie Kostelnik
Student-Athletes Recognized at CSU Annual Scholarship Luncheon
On Tuesday, March 19, student-athletes who received funding from the Busbey Foundation were honored at the annual Cleveland State University Scholarship Luncheon. Thank you to all who continue to support the Busbey Foundation so we can support our incredible student-athletes!
Coach Wally Morton with Jason van der Touw and Sean Mulvin, two of the
Busbey Foundation scholarship recipients.
Extra Mile Update: Donor Plaques
Being Created
Construction is underway in both the men's and women's locker room! Lockers are currently being installed and donor plaques are being created by two of current student-athletes, DJ Arslanian (junior) and Sean Mulvin (senior). Their use of the technology in the Washkewicz Engineering Building across from the pool is just another example of generations coming together for CSU while utilizing campus resources. These plaques are for those who donated at least $1,650. These donor plaques are a great way to honor the supporters and alumni who tirelessly work to help Cleveland State Swimming and Diving.
Sample Plaque
Volunteering at the
OHIO Masters Swim Meet
This coming weekend our Vikings will be timing and volunteering at the OHIO Masters Swim Meet. Following Sunday's meet, the team will be eating lunch with the OHIO Masters swimmers. This is another great opportunity to network with the USMS swimmers in the Cleveland area. Come out to Busbey Natatorium Saturday from 2:30-6:30 pm or Sunday from 9:30 am - 1:30 pm to support our local masters swimmers!
March Birthdays

Cassie Oltman (5th)
Jason van der Touw (5th)
Agnes Bahr (9th)
Patrick Lance (11th)
Dana Bender (12th)
Sean Mulvin (15th)
Jack MacDonald (20th)
ChuChu Yang (21st)
Lauren Frank (22nd)
MacJilton Lewis (25th)

Upcoming Events

3/23: OHIO Masters Swim Meet, Busbey Natatorium, 2:30-6:30 pm
3/24: OHIO Masters Swim Meet, Busbey Natatorium, 9:30 am - 1:30 pm
4/13: CSU Swimming & Diving Team Banquet, Fenn Tower 303, 1:00 pm
4/16: 29th Annual John Konstantinos Athletic Academic Honors Lunchon, Wolstein Center, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
4/17: CSU Swimming & Diving Ice Cream Social, Fenn Tower 303, 5:00-7:00 pm
4/19: Team Event: Supporting CSU Men's Tennis against IUPUI, Medical Mutual Tennis Pavilion, 1:00 pm
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