| Anderson Tabbed New YSU Swim Coach |
| Tuesday, August 5 2003 |
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| Youngstown, Ohio – Youngstown State has named Matt Anderson as its new Head Swimming and Diving Coach, Associate Director of Athletics Elaine Jacobs announced on Thursday. Anderson comes to Youngstown State after spending four seasons as an assistant coach at Ohio State, where he served as recruiting coordinator and oversaw the sprint groups. While at Ohio State, Anderson coached NCAA, Olympic Trial, Senior National and U.S. Open qualifiers and Big Ten finalists. Prior to joining the Ohio State staff, Anderson spent two seasons as assistant swim coach at Northern Illinois. With the Huskies, Anderson served as the middle distance coach and mentored student-athletes qualifying for Senior Nationals, Junior Nationals, and the U.S. Open and Mid-American Conference finalists. Anderson, a four-year letterwinner at Northern Illinois, earned a bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois in 1997 and is a member of the College Swimming Coaches Association and the American Swim Coaches Association. Anderson will begin his duties on July 1, 2003. |
| Penguins Add Four Divers |
| Tuesday, August 5 2003 |
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| Youngstown, Ohio -- Cortney Harless (Steubenville, Ohio), Lynea Harrill (Mayfield, Ohio) and Erin Mazzant (Beaver Falls, Pa.) have signed national letters of intent to continue their academic and diving careers at Youngstown State University and Kristen Moffatt (Conway, Pa) has transferred to YSU from West Virginia, YSU Diving Coach Nick Gavolas announced on Friday. Harless, a senior at Steubenville High School, was a district qualifier and finished 10th at the Ohio Central District Championship. Harrill, who is relatively new to diving, placed 16th at the Northeast District meet. Mazzant, who is a senior at Pine Ridge High School, placed 14th at the 2003 Pennsylvania State Championship meet and is a two-time state qualifier. "This is a great group of kids with a willingness to come in and work really hard," said Gavolas. "With the addition of these four outstanding student-athletes, I am confident YSU can remain one of the top diving programs in the league." |
| Leveto and Smail Compete in One-Meter at NCAA Zone Meet |
| Tuesday, August 5 2003 |
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| Oxford, Ohio -- At the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships on Saturday, Youngstown State's Kalyn Leveto placed 26th in the one-meter competition and Mandie Smail was 37th at the diving well at the Corwin M. Nixon Aquatics Center. Leveto had a score of 218.05 while Smail finished with a mark of 187.95. |
| Leveto and Smail Compete in Three-Meter at NCAA Zone Meet |
| Tuesday, August 5 2003 |
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| Oxford, Ohio -- At the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships on Friday, Youngstown State's Kalyn Leveto placed 39th in the three-meter competition and Mandie Smail was 42nd at the diving well at the Corwin M. Nixon Aquatics Center. Leveto had a score of 191.50 while Smail finished with a mark of 185.25. Both will compete in the one-meter competition on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. |
| Smail, Leveto to Compete at Zone C Championships |
| Tuesday, August 5 2003 |
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| Youngstown -- Youngstown State divers Mandie Smail and Kalyn Leveto will compete at the Zone C Diving Championships at the Corwin M. Nixon Aquatics Center in Oxford, Ohio on Friday and Saturday. Leveto will head into the meet coming off of one of the best seasons by a diver in YSU history. At the 2003 Horizon League Championships, Leveto became the first Penguin diver to win both the one and three-meter Horizon League titles and was named Diver of the Meet for her accomplishments. She also broke the school record in one-meter diving with a score of 296.02 on Jan. 22. Smail will look to close a successful four-year career on a high note, having qualified for the meet for the fourth consecutive year. Smail finished second in the one-meter and sixth in the three-meter at the league championships and currently holds the school record in the 11-dive one-meter diving. At last year's competition, Smail placed 23rd in the three-meter while Leveto placed 34th. In the one-meter, Smail finished 32nd while Leveto was 33rd. The top seven finishers in each event qualify for the 2003 Women's NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships, held March 20-22, in Auburn, Ala. |
| Leveto, Blagg Highlight Final Day at Horizon Championships |
| Tuesday, August 5 2003 |
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| Cleveland, Ohio -- Kalyn Leveto was named the Horizon League Diver of the Meet after winning the one-meter diving event to earn her second league title while Danielle Blagg broke her second school record in two days in the final day of the Horizon League Championships on Saturday at the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium. Leveto, who won the three-meter board on Thursday, edged out teammate Mandie Smail for the victory in the one-meter event with a score of 243.00. Blagg set the school mark in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:34.19 just one day after setting the school record in the 100 breast. YSU Diving Coach Nick Gavolas was named Horizon League Diving Coach of the Year. Smail finished second in the three-meter with a score of 222.50 to earn 17 points for the Penguins while Lena Arens tied for 12th and Missy Weise placed 14th in the 100 free. Blagg claimed the 13th spot in the 200 breast while Amanda Howard placed 15th. Jordan Dunn, Erika Gregos, Michelle Von Duhn and Lauren Connolly finished 14th-17th in the 1,650 free, respectively. Wright State took both the men's and the women's crowns while UW-Green Bay finished second on both sides. 2003 Swimming & Diving Horizon League Championship Event Final Prelim Place 3-Meter Diving Kalyn Leveto 416.40 421.60 1st Mandie Smail 384.75 374.20 6th 200 Free Relay Wiese, Dunn, Carter, Arens 1:41.24 7th 500 Free Jordan Dunn 5:21.97 18th Erika Gregos 5:31.83 21st Michelle Von Duhn 5:41.32 24th Lauren Connolly 5:47.72 25th Erin Hanson 5:56.89 26th Katie Kohut 7:01.19 27th 200 IM Erin Carter 2:15.32 2:15.28 14th Danielle Blagg 2:21.84 24th Val Keim 2:26.19 26th Megan Blazek 2:32.40 27th 50 Free Lena Arens 25.19 25.39 11th Missy Weise 25.67 25.44 15th Katy Malys 26.80 26th Michelle Von Duhn 27.30 27th Megyn Pike 28.36 28th Amanda Howard 28.74 29th Katie Kohut 29.65 30th Amanda Ricci 32.08 32nd 400-Medley Relay Dunn, Blagg, Carter, Weise 4:17.49 7th 200-Medley Relay Malys, Blagg, Keim, Arens 1:59.75 7th 400-IM Jordan Dunn 4:50.09* 4:52.03 14th Erin Hanson 5:16.47 17th 100 Fly Val Keim 1:06.51 19th Lena Arens 1:08.89 21st 200 Free Erin Carter 1:58.45 1:59.81 12th 100 Breast Danielle Blagg 1:11.02 1:10.86* 1:11.02 Amanda Howard 1:17.32 17th 100 Back Erin Carter 1:04.10 17th April Gellatly 1:11.31 20th Megyn Pike 1:16.87 21st 800 Free Relay Weise, Dunn, Gregos, Carter 8:18.24 7th 1-Meter Diving Kalyn Leveto 243.00 235.50 1st Mandie Smail 222.50 205.10 2nd 1,650 Free Jordan Dunn 18:44.10 14th Erika Gregos 19:12.52 15th Michelle Von Duhn 19:36.93 16th Lauren Connolly 20:23.81 17th 200 Back Megan Blazek 2:27.09 19th Erin Hanson 2:30.94 21st 100 Free Lena Arens 55.43 55.43 12th Missy Weise 56.18 56.18 14th Katy Malys 58.53 21st April Gellatly 1:00.23 22nd Megyn Pike 1:02.33 23rd Katie Kohut 1:07.15 25th Amanda Ricci 1:10.92 26th 200 Breast Danielle Blagg 2:35.39 2:34.19* 13th Amanda Howard 2:50.04 2:49.24 15th 200 Fly Val Keim 2:32.59 18th Katy Malys 2:33.32 19th 400 Free Relay Weise, Dunn, Arens, Carter 3:42.99 7th * - indicates school record |
| Blagg, Dunn Set Records to Highlight Day Two |
| Tuesday, August 5 2003 |
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| Cleveland, Ohio -- Sophomore Danielle Blagg set the school record in the 100-yard breaststroke and sophomore Jordan Dunn broke the school record in the 400 IM to highlight the second day of competition at the Horizon League Championships at the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium. Blagg swam a time of 1:10.86 in the preliminary round to break Angela Wood's record set back on Feb. 20, 1998, by .02 seconds. Dunn set her mark in the finals with a time of 4:50.09 to top Gwynne Stacy's previous record by 1.03 seconds. Before Blagg's record-breaking time this afternoon, no swimming record had been broken since Feb. 21, 1998. Erin Carter finished 12th in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:58.45 while Dunn finished 14th in the 400 IM. Blagg finished 15th in the 100 breast. Competition continues tomorrow in Cleveland with the preliminary round of the 1,650 freestyle at 10:30 a.m. |
| Leveto Wins Horizon League Title in Three-Meter |
| Tuesday, August 5 2003 |
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| Cleveland, Ohio -- Youngstown State sophomore diver Kalyn Leveto won the three-meter diving event with a score of 416.40 at the Horizon League Championships at the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium on the campus of Cleveland State University on Thursday evening. With the win, a Penguin diver has won the three-meter diving event at three straight conference championships. Senior diver Mandie Smail finished sixth in the three-meter with a score of 384.75. In other action, sophomore Erin Carter finished 14th in the 200-yard IM with time of 2:15.32. Lena Arens placed 11th in the 50 free with a personal-best time of 25.19 while teammate Missy Weise finished four places back in 15th with a time of 25.67. YSU currently occupies the fifth spot in the standings ahead of Cleveland State and Butler with 92 points. Wright State is in first with 219. The Horizon League Championships continue tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m. |
| Penguins to Compete at League Championships |
| Tuesday, August 5 2003 |
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| Youngstown -- The Youngstown State swimming and diving team will begin competition Wednesday evening at what league officials are boasting as one of the most competitive Horizon League Championships ever at the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium on the campus of Cleveland State University. The Penguins will head into the meet with two of the top divers in the conference in Kalyn Leveto and Mandie Smail. Leveto holds the top score in the Horizon League in one-meter diving with a school-record 296.02 and the 11 dive three-meter diving. She is also owns the second spot in the six dive three-meter diving. Smail is right behind Leveto in the 11 dive three-meter diving and holds the fourth spot in the two other diving events. Lena Arens leads the sprint group heading into the championship meet, holding the seventh best time in the 50-yard free with a 25.44. Missy Wiese holds the 18th fastest time in both the 50 and 100 free. The Penguins will also be led by the versatility of Erin Carter and Jordan Dunn. Carter ranks in the top 25 in six different events while Dunn occupies one of the top 25 spots in three events. Wright State will look to become only the second team in league history to win back-to-back championships after edging out UW-Green Bay in last year's championship. The meet begins Wednesday evening with the preliminary round of three-meter diving and concludes with the 400 freestyle relay on Saturday. Trials will begin daily at 10:30 a.m. and finals will begin at 6 p.m. Results can be found on Cleveland State's website near the completion of each event. |
| Leveto Named Athlete of the Week |
| Tuesday, August 5 2003 |
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| Indianapolis, Ind. -- Sophomore diver Kalyn Leveto was named the Horizon League's Women's Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Week for the period ending Feb. 9, league contact Kyle Smith announced Tuesday. Leveto earned two first-place finishes at the YSU Diving Invitational on Feb. 9, with wins in the one-meter and three-meter events. She finished with a 12-dive score of 522.95 in the one-meter and an 11-dive score of 411.85 in the three-meter competition. |
| Dunn Wins Three, Penguins Defeat Canisius, 156-77 |
| Tuesday, August 5 2003 |
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| Youngstown -- Jordan Dunn led the Penguins with three victories while Missy Weise and Kalyn Leveto each chipped in with two wins each to lead the Youngstown State swimming and diving team over Canisius 156-77 on Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Natatorium. Dunn dominated the distance events, winning both the 1,000-yard freestyle and the 500 freestyle and added a win in the 400 IM to earn 27 points for the Penguins. Leveto won both the one and three-meter diving events to earn while Weise earned victories in the 100 and 200 freestyle to earn 18 points apiece. Also earning victories for YSU were Lena Arens in the 50 freestyle, Erin Carter in the 100 backstroke, Danielle Blagg in the 100 breaststroke, the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay. Finishing second and earning four points for the Penguins were Lauren Connolly in the 1,000 freestyle, Carter in the 50 freestyle, Val Keim in the 100 butterfly and Erika Gregos in the 500 freestyle. Senior Mandie Smail earned two second place finishes on YSU's senior day with seasonal-best scores in both the one and three-meter diving. Megan Blazek, Blagg and Amanda Howard each had a third-place finish. The diving team will compete in the YSU Diving Invitational on Sunday, Feb. 9. The swimming squad will continue their season on Feb. 26 at the Horizon League Championship. |
| Leveto Breaks School Record, Wins Twice Against Cleveland State |
| Tuesday, August 5 2003 |
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| Youngstown -- Kalyn Leveto set the one-meter diving record with a score of 296.02 and won both the one and three-meter diving events, but the Youngstown State swimming and diving team was edged out by Cleveland State, 129-97. Leveto's record-setting score surpassed teammate Mandie Smail's record of 286.75 that was set two years ago. The Penguins picked up victories in five events against the Vikings and had 15 season-best times or scores. Behind Leveto's two victories, the Penguins dominated the sprinting events. Lena Arens and Missy Wiese combined to pick up wins in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 freestyle respectively. Arens also finished third in the 100 freestyle and Wiese placed third in the 50 freestyle. The Penguins also closed out the meet winning 200 freestyle relay. Also scoring high for the Penguins, Erin Carter placed second both the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly while Erika Gregos, Jordan Dunn and Danielle Blagg each picked up one second-place finish apiece. Val Keim finished third in the 100 fly and Lauren Connolly had two fourth-place times. The Penguins will continue their season when they play host to Canisius at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1, at the Beeghly Natatorium. |
| Carter Wins Twice in Loss at Akron, 167-114 |
| Tuesday, August 5 2003 |
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| Akron -- Erin Carter earned victories in the 100-yard fly and the 200-yard IM for the Penguins, but the Akron Zips won the first 11 events en route to a 167-114 win over the Youngstown State swimming and diving team at the Ocasek Natatorium on Saturday afternoon. Jordan Dunn picked up the first win of the afternoon for the Penguins in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:31.99. Also earning victories for YSU were Mandie Smail in one-meter diving and the 400-yard freestyle relay. Lena Arens finished the afternoon with a second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle and a fifth-place spot in the 100 freestyle to lead the sprint group. Erika Gregos placed second in the 500 freestyle and third in the 1,000 freestyle to anchor the distance events for the Penguins. In the butterfly, Val Keim and April Gellatly claimed the second and third place sports in the 100 while Katy Malys finished third in the 200. In other action, Kalyn Leveto and Dunn each picked up second place finishes while Danielle Blagg, Lauren Connelly and Missy Wiese chipped in with third place finishes. The Penguins will return home on Wednesday to take on Horizon League foe Cleveland State in the Beeghly Natatorium at 1 p.m. |
| Bak Named to 2004 Olympic Staff-Elect |
| Tuesday, August 5 2003 |
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| Youngstown -- Youngstown State swimming and diving coach Jackie Bak was recently invited to be a member of the Olympic Staff in Greece when the United States travels to Greece in 2004 to compete against the best swimmers in the world, USA Swimming announced. As a staff member of Team USA, Bak will give her insight and knowledge at Duel in the Pool, a dual meet against Australia in 2003, the 2003 FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, and the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. "This is the ultimate achievement in amateur athletics," Bak said. "It is a great opportunity for me to represent Youngstown State at the International level." Bak has previously coached Team USA at the 2002 FINA World Championships, helping the Americans rewrite the record books with three world records, seven American records and 26 medals, despite bringing just 26 athletes. She coached 13 Olympic medallists from the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia and three 2001 world champions. Bak, who his in her fourth year as head coach of YSU’s swimming and diving team, has been involved with USA Swimming since taking a position as business manager with USA Swimming’s National Team Division in 1998. Bak also has worked with the National Distance Camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., and was a part of the National Distance Team staff in 2001. |