Valpo freshman Isabel Jenny (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) continued her tremendous first season in the Brown and Gold, lowering her program record in the 100 back, as the Valparaiso University men’s and women’s swimming teams wrapped up the 2018 Phoenix Fall Classic on Sunday, placing fifth and fourth – respectively – out of the 11 competing schools. Freshmen Billy Bennett (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) and Dominic May (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central), as well as junior Erica Martins (Hartland, Wis./Lake County Lutheran), each had solid Sunday efforts as well, continuing where the team left off yesterday as they found their way into Valpo’s record books.

How It Happened

• Jenny highlighted an eventful Sunday by lowering the program record yet again in the 100 back. After posting a time on Friday of 58.15 as the lead leg in the 400 medley relay which set the record, Jenny sliced over a half-second off her own mark on Sunday in the prelims, qualifying for the event final with a time of 57.62. In Sunday night’s final, Jenny’s time of 57.81 was good for a third-place finish.
• Jenny was one of two Valpo swimmers to earn a spot in the A-final of the 100 back, as junior Paige Wright (Surprise, Ariz./Paradise Honors) finished seventh in the event as well with a finals time of 59.60. For Wright, that was one of two appearances in an A-final Sunday evening, as she also placed fifth in the 200 free with a time of 1:57.25.
• In the 400 freestyle relay, Jenny, freshman Chiara Robinson (Castle Pines, Colo./Rock Canyon), freshman Maddie Wright (Surprise, Ariz./Paradise Honors) and Paige Wright found their way into the Valpo record books as well, placing fifth overall with a time of 3:38.70, moving them into ninth on the all-time list for that event.
• Martins started off Sunday with a time of 59.28 in the 100 fly prelims, qualifying ninth and giving her what would have been good for sixth in program history for that event. But, she went on to improve upon her prelim performance in the finals, as she placed eighth and stopped the clock at 59.01, which now puts her at third in the Valpo record books.
• Martins nearly improved upon her PR in the 50 free as well, touching the wall in 24.66 in the event final to finish third, just .02 off her eighth-best time in program history. Maddie Wright was in the A-final of the 50 free as well and finished 10th with a time of 25.17.
• In the 400 IM, junior Tara Lawson (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) took home a sixth-place overall finish, touching the wall at 4:50.82. Junior Emily Baumgartner (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) placed ninth in the same event with a time of 4:59.40.
• In the men’s events, May did a great job in both 200 free races, swimming the fifth-fastest time in the prelims with a 1:43.31 performance, which was good for third in the event in the Valpo record books. However, he decided that wasn’t enough, as he went on to shave off three-tenths of a second in the finals, posting a time of 1:43.01 to finish in third place.
• Bennett’s performance in the 200 breast followed a similar path, as he stopped the clock at 2:11.06 in the prelims, which would have put him at eighth in program history. He then went on to record what’s now the fifth-best time in Valpo history in that event, as he improved to 2:10.12 in the finals for an eighth-place finish.
• Senior Dylan Kirar (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley) and junior Brendon Johnson (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) each came close to besting their current Valpo top-ten times in the 400 IM, as Kirar placed third at 4:08.77 – just behind his current second place time of 4:06.96. Johnson finished right behind Kirar in fourth place at 4:11.61, also just a couple seconds shy of his current third-best time in program history of 4:07.84. Kirar and Johnson improved by three and five spots, respectively, from their qualifying positions.

Up Next

Valpo will now break from competition for the holidays, returning to action at the ARC Pool on Friday, Jan. 18 with a meet against Rose-Hulman. Events are slated to begin at 5 p.m. CT.