Best Horizon League Finish, School Records Highlight 2022-23 Men’s Swimming and Diving Campaign
3/21/2023 3:18:00 PM | Swimming and Diving
The Youngstown State men's swimming and diving program logged the best Horizon League team-finish in program history to highlight an incredible, record-breaking season.
Horizon League Championship Highlights
- The Penguins finished a program-record fourth overall at the meet, earning 426 points, setting 11 school records, and delivering five podium finishes including two champions.
- Junior Gavin Webb won back-to-back titles in the 1650 freestyle, swimming a school-record time of 15:19.52 to win the event. He became the first YSU men's swimmer to win an event at the Horizon League Championships last season and has now earned the title twice.
- Sophomore Aleksa Radenovic earned the conference title in the 200 butterfly as he clocked a 1:45.23 in the event to finish over a second ahead of the competition.
- In addition to Radenovic's conference title, he also found the podium in the both the 100 butterfly and 200 IM. He clocked a 1:47.23 in the 200 IM, breaking the school record and finishing third. In the 100 butterfly, he swam a time of 47.29 to pick up another third-place finish.
- Webb also found the podium in the 500 freestyle, finishing third with a school record time of 4:25.77. He also rounded out the top five in the 400 IM, clocking a 3:54.90.
- Also in the 400 IM, Dominic Bono picked-up an eighth place finish with a time of 3:59.63.
- Freshman James Slessor advanced to the finals in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. He set the school record in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 54.59 to finish sixth overall. In the 200 breaststroke, he clocked an impressive time of 2:00.57 for a seventh-place finish.
- Junior Soma Albert finished fourth in the 200 back with a time of 1:46.31, just missing the podium.
- Junior Gavin Redden earned a seventh-place finish in the 100 free with a time of 44.94 after setting the school-record in the event during the prelims, clocking a 44.57.
- Senior Karan Raju rounded out the top eight in the 200 fly, clocking a time of 1:49.42.
- Senior Wilson Cannon won the consolation final of the 100 fly with a time of 48.48 for a ninth-place overall finish.
- The Penguins set school records in the 400 free relay, 400 medley relay, and 800 free relay at the meet. The 800 free relay team of Radenovic, Christian Taylor, Webb, and swam a time of 6:38.56 which bested the previous record by almost four seconds. Radenovic's split of 1:39.09 bested the 200 free school record by over a second.
CSCAA NIC Highlights
- Competing at the CSCAA National Invitational Championship for just the second time in program history, Youngstown State placed 21st out of 41 schools with 147 points, finishing ahead of Miami (Ohio), South Dakota State, Southern Illinois, and Delaware among others.
- Gavin Webb and Aleksa Radenovic found the podium at the event, the first to do so in YSU history.
- Webb clocked a school-record time of 15:15.20 to place third in the 1650 free. He bested his previous record set at the Horizon League Championships by over four seconds. Along the way, he clocked a 9:09.52 in the 1000 free to finish runner-up in the event with another school-record time.
- Radenovic broke his own 200 fly school record with an impressive time of 1:44.85 to finish runner-up.
Additional Highlights
- The Penguins won the Akron Zips Classic with 1398.4 points, finishing ahead of Denison and Xavier. In the event, Aleksa Radenovic picked up four individual event victories in the 200 IM, 100 fly, 100 back, and 200 fly, including setting a meet record in the 200 fly. Other event winners were James Slessor (100 and 200 breast), Rares Druga (50 free), Soma Albert (200 back), and Dominic Bono (400 IM).
- YSU defeated Niagara 173.50 to 126.50. Event winners against the Purple Eagles were James Slessor (100 breast, 200 breast, and 200 IM), Cody Thill (one-meter and three-meter dives), Aleksa Radenovic (100 and 200 fly), Gavin Webb (500 and 1000 free), and Soma Albert (200 back). Thill set the school record in the three-meter dive with a score of 325.13 at the meet. Youngstown State earned a second season victory over Niagara later in the season, 164-133.
- Youngstown State earned a victory over conference foe Cleveland State, 167-127. Winning events were Aleksa Radenovic (100 fly, 200 fly, and 200 IM), James Slessor (100 and 200 breast), Rares Druga (50 free), Simon Iwanonkiw (three-meter dive), and Brooks Adams (one-meter dive).
- At the Miami (OH) Invitational, the Penguins broke 12 school records en route to a fourh-place finish with 578 points. Aleksa Radenovic won the 100 fly at the meet while Gavin Webb took first place in the 1650 free.
- Five Penguins competed at the CSCAA Open Water Championships where they finished seventh out of 15 teams, led by Gavin Webb's eighth-place performance.
- Gavin Webb (1650 free) and Aleksa Radenvoic (100 and 200 fly) earned victories in YSU's tri-meet against Horizon League foes, Oakland and IUPUI.
- Youngstown State defeated Ohio Welseyan 250-43 in a double dual with Denison. Winning events were Gavin Webb (300 and 500 free), Rares Druga (50 free), Soma Albert (100 back), and Simon Iwanonkiw (three-meter dive).
Horizon League Weekly Honors
- Aleksa Radenovic was named the Nike #HLSD Men's Swimmer of the Week three times during the season (Oct. 21, Nov. 9, and Dec.7). Gavin Webb earned the honor on Dec. 21.
- Three different YSU divers earned the Nike #HLSD Men's Diver of the Week honors throughout the season: Simon Iwanonkiw (Nov. 9), Cody Thill (Dec. 7), and Zachary Lao (Jan. 11).
Academic Excellence
- The Penguins were named a CSCAA Scholar All-American team and were impressively tied for fifth best grade-point average across all men's Division I teams with a 3.59 GPA. The Penguins were among Harvard, Brown, Stanford, Gardner-Webb, Yale, Davidson, and Duke with the highest Fall 2022 GPAs.
- Four men were named to the Valeo #HLSD All-Academic Team: Soma Albert, Jasper Liekens, Aleksa Radenovic, and Gavin Webb.
Players Mentioned
DIVING
/ Swimming and Diving
BACKSTROKE/IM
/ Swimming and Diving
FREESTYLE/IM
/ Swimming and Diving
FREESTYLE
/ Swimming and Diving
FREESTYLE/BACKSTROKE
/ Swimming and Diving
DIVING
/ Swimming and Diving
DIVING
/ Swimming and Diving
BUTTERFLY
/ Swimming and Diving
BACKSTROKE/BUTTERFLY
/ Swimming and Diving
FREESTYLE/BUTTERFLY
/ Swimming and Diving
FREESTYLE
/ Swimming and Diving
BREASTSTROKE
/ Swimming and Diving
FREESTYLE
/ Swimming and Diving
DIVING
/ Swimming and Diving
FREESTYLE
/ Swimming and DivingSunday, April 26
Saturday, April 18
Tuesday, April 14
Tuesday, April 14
