Box Score

            Valparaiso’s men turned in two of the top relay efforts in school history on Wednesday evening as the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships opened in Cleveland, Ohio.

            The Crusaders are in sixth place through four events with 58 points in the four-day meet.  Milwaukee leads with 145 points, two more than Wright State.  Cleveland State is third with 121 points, while UIC is fourth with 111 points.  Green Bay is one spot above Valpo with 58 points.

            The men opened the meet with a sixth place finish in the 200 freestyle relay.  Blake Edwards (Orange, Calif./Lutheran H.S. of Orange County), Kyle Verage (Hubertus, Wis./Marquette H.S.), Dan Meals (Washington, Ill./Washington Community H.S.), and David Sivak (Hobart, Ind./Hobart H.S.) turned in a time of 1:26.71, the fourth fastest time in Valpo school history.

            The Crusaders also finished in sixth place in the 200 medley relay.  Verage, Andrew Geibel (Bartlesville, Okla./Bartlesville H.S.), Ansel Hillmer (Tampa, Fla./Hillsborough H.S.), and Sivak finished with a mark of 1:37.04, the third quickest time in school history.

            Individually, Kurtis Malone (Pekin, Ill./Pekin H.S.) finished in 11^th place on the three-meter diving board.  The freshman scored 196.25 points, bettering his preliminary mark by nearly 20 points from earlier in the day.

            “This meet is unbelievably fast,” interim head coach Barbara Tyree said.  “We had some good swims today and some lifetime bests.  It is an exciting experience for everyone and we hope to see even faster times later in the weekend.”

            Day two of the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships will take place on Thursday with preliminary heats beginning at 9 a.m. CST and the finals slated for 5 p.m.  Coverage of the finals can be viewed live online on the Horizon League Network.