Valparaiso's men finished in third place at the Florida International Invitational on Sunday morning as the Crusaders concluded their winter break trip in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The Crusaders tallied 304 points in the meet, 59 ahead of fourth place Oakland. Pennsylvania won the invitational with 568 points, followed by Carnegie Mellon with 400 points. Macalester was fifth with 52 points.

Valpo opened with a third place finish in the 200 medley relay, as Travers Smith, David Peterson, David Kesler, and Bob Pedersen touched the wall in 1:43.60.

Smith earned a fifth place finish individually in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:52.85 and was third in the 100 butterfly (55.09). Pedersen was ninth in the 50 free in 23.62 seconds, while finishing eighth in the 100 back with a mark of 1:01.01. Peterson placed fourth in the 400 individual medley finishing in 4:23.13 and was sixth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:02.39. Kesler led the way in the 100 free with his time of 52.71 seconds.

The Crusaders ended the meet with a fourth place effort in the 200 free relay as Josh Stamper, Eric Girard, Jeff Lange, and Mike Stachniak turned in a time of 1:39.16.

Valpo will return to action on Saturday afternoon, as the Crusaders host Ball State and Illinois-Chicago beginning at 2 p.m. at the Athletics-Recreation Center pool.