Valparaiso’s men’s swim team is in fifth place after day one of the Coers Invitational held on Friday evening at the Lewellan Aquatic Center in Muncie, Ind.

The Crusaders tallied 61 points on the opening day of competition, and are just 11 points behind third place Findlay.  Lewis is fourth with 70 points, nine ahead of Valpo.  Grand Valley State leads the meet with 205 points followed by host Ball State with 171 points.

The Brown and Gold opened the meet with a third place finish in the 200 freestyle relay.  The team of Fernando Aguilar (San Salvador, El Salvador/Colegio Internacional de San Salvador H.S.), Kevin Fedde (Fort Collins, Colo./Heritage Christian H.S.), Kyle Braun (McHenry, Ill./West H.S.), and Tate Wegehaupt (Tigard, Ore./Tigard H.S.) posted a time of 1:31.13.

Braun had the Crusaders’ best individual finish of day one, placing fifth in the 50 freestyle.  The freshman touched the wall in 22.76 seconds.  Matt King (Clinton, Ill./Clinton H.S.) and Russell Deghi (Sebestopol, Calif./Analy H.S.) added top-15 finishes in the event as well with times of 23.75 and 23.82 seconds respectively.

Wegehaupt added an eighth place mark individually in the 200 individual medley.  The sophomore turned in a time of 2:03.99, his best of the young season. 

Trevor Trimpe (New Palestine, Ind./Connersville H.S.) paced Valpo in the 500 freestyle with a season’s best time of 5:07.76, finishing 17^th overall. 

The Crusaders will close competition at the meet on Saturday with events beginning at 8 a.m. CST in Muncie.