youngstown state university swimming Hill to defend diving title

Staff report

Brown Deer, Wis.

Youngstown State junior diver Casey Hill will look to defend her 3-meter diving championship while the Penguins will be after a strong team performance at the Horizon League championships which start on Wednesday.

Last year Hill posted a 284.20 to win the 3-meter title.

This year, Hill has had a solid campaign winning 18 combined 1 and 3-meter events. In 2011, she finished sixth in the 1-meter with a score of 232.45 after finishing with the top score in the preliminary round.

Freshman Ashley Dow, sophomores Megan Ciampa and Laura Paz, junior Samantha Roberts and seniors Kirstin Walker, Nishani Cicilson, Audria Grubbs and Katie Wolf are also expected to contend for placement.

Dow is just off the school records in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events. She has a season-best time of 58.46 seconds in the 100 and 2:06.63 in the 200.

Ciampa ranks in the top 15 in the league the 1,000-yard freestyle and the 1,650 free. Last year at the HL Championships she was ninth in the 1,000 and 13th in the 400-yard IM.

Roberts finished fourth in the 100 breaststroke and fifth in the 200 breaststroke last year.

This season she has battled injuries, but will be looking to end the campaign on a strong note.

Paz had a top-10 finish at last year’s meet in the 200-yard butterfly (ninth) while placing 14th in the 100 fly. She set personal-bests in both events at last year’s championships to rank second in the 200 and third in the 100 in YSU history.

Walker is the YSU record holder in the 200 free, while ranking second in the 500 free, fourth in the 100 free and 10th in the 50 free. She set career-best marks in all four events last year at the Horizon championships. She has four top 15 finishes at the league meet.

Cicilson holds the school record in the 50 free while ranking in the top four in YSU history in the 100 free, 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. As a sophomore she placed fifth at the Horizon championships in the 50 free with a school-record time of 23.82. In her career, she has nine top-15 finishes at the Horizon championships.

Grubbs has had one of the strongest seasons of her YSU career. She ranks in the top 10 in YSU history in the 100, 200 and 500 free. Grubbs had her top career time performances in those three events at last year’s championships.

Erin Carter is the last YSU swimmer to earn an individual swimming title at the HL meet, winning the 400-IM in 2004.

YSU has had at least three top-five finishes in each of the past four championships and has had 30 all-time top-five finishes at the league meet since joining the conference.

Green Bay has won seven straight Horizon League championships and has eight overall.