CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland State University men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams partake in their biggest in-season meet of the year this weekend as both programs host the eighth annual Magnus Cup.
The meet has grown significantly since its inception in 2012. There will be 10 men’s teams and a 13 women’s teams competing this year. The 10 men’s teams ties the meet record while the 23 combined teams marks the fourth straight season that at least that many men’s and women’s programs have competed in this meet.
Three institutions will be making their Magnus Cup debuts—Anderson, Bowling Green and Gannon. Also, the Youngstown State men will be making their first appearance in YSU’s inaugural season for their men’s program. Both Xavier programs and the women’s squad from Youngstown State will continue their streak of competing in every iteration of the event.
All traditional individual swimming events and relays will be held at the meet. Both 1-meter and 3-meter diving will be held as well during the course of the weekend.
Swimming prelims will begin at 9:00 a.m. each day. Finals will commence at 5:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 4:00 p.m. Sunday. Diving is set to take place between swimming sessions Friday and Saturday with diving preliminaries immediately followed by finals.
The top 20 student-athletes will score in each event in both genders. All relays and the 1650 freestyle will be contested as timed finals. Early heats of the 1650 freestyle will be swum shortly after Sunday’s preliminary session concludes with the top men’s and women’s heats swimming with finals. All relays will swim with finals.
Live results from the meet will be available on the Meet Mobile app ($). Live results from the diving competition will be available through the DiveMeets website. Full PDF results will be posted on the swimming pages of CSU’s website at the end of each day of competition.
The Cleveland State men’s team has won six of the previous seven Magnus Cups, including each of the past five. The Vikings set a Magnus Cup record with 1,871.5 points last year as they won the meet by 543.5 points. The CSU men split dual meets in their last action on the final weekend of October, topping Milwaukee and falling to Green Bay. Junior Dominik Niedzialek has the fastest time in the Horizon League this season in the 200 backstroke and is also among the top five in the 500 free and 100 back. Sophomore Jack Krusinski is among the top three fastest in the league this season in both breaststroke events. Junior Matt Akers owns the best score in 1-meter diving in the league this season, surpassing the NCAA zones standard by more than 30 points.
The Cleveland State women’s best finish at the Magnus Cup is second, which they have achieved twice. The Viking women were fifth of 16 teams last year, finishing with 649.5 points. The CSU women dropped dual meets in their last action on the final weekend of October, falling in close battles with Milwaukee and Green Bay. Junior Lexie Kostelnik won all four of her individual races in CSU’s last weekend of competition and broke the school record in the 1650 freestyle at last year’s Magnus Cup.
The following teams are scheduled to compete at the 2019 Magnus Cup: Akron (women only), Anderson, Bowling Green (women only), California University of Pennsylvania (women only), Cleveland State, University of the Cumberlands, Delaware, Fairmont State, Gannon, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, West Virginia Tech, Xavier and Youngstown State.
An all-weekend ticket for the Magnus Cup will be $30 for adults and $20 for seniors (over 60) and youths (under 12). An all-day ticket will be $12 for adults and $8 for seniors or children. Heat sheets will be available for $2 per session. CSU students, faculty and staff will be admitted free with a valid Viking Card.