The Valpo men’s and women’s swimming teams finished up the second day of the Phoenix Fall Classic at the University of Chicago on Saturday, a day which featured a multitude of swimmers moving up the program’s all-time charts in their respective events. The day was highlighted by freshman Mikayla DePover (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island) taking first place in the 100 breaststroke.

How It Happened

• The women’s 200 medley relay led the day off, as senior Paige Wright (Surprise, Ariz./Paradise Honors), DePover, senior Erica Martins (Hartland, Wis./Lake County Lutheran) and freshman Morgan Markley (Bluffton, Ind./Norwell) notched a 1:47.37 finish to finish fourth in the event. The team moved into fourth in that event in Valpo history.
• DePover’s impressive day continued as she moved into sixth all-time in Valpo history in the 200 IM, recording a time of 2:11.97. Her finals time was almost three seconds better than her preliminary time of 2:14.31, a time which itself ranked ninth in program history.
• Wright qualified for the finals in the 500 free with a preliminary time of 5:03.86. Her finals time improved by over a second, as she placed second overall in the event touching the wall at 5:02.66. Wright’s time moves her into second overall in Valpo’s record book.
• DePover capped her tremendous day with her event win in the 100 breaststroke, stopping the clock at 1:05.07. Her time moved her into second overall in Valpo history, just .10 from breaking the program record set back in 2008.
• Freshmen Sophie Morelock (Milan, Mich./Milan) notched an eighth-place finish in the 200 backstroke, touching the wall at 2:08.09 – over a second better than her preliminary time (2:09.62). Morelock’s final time lands her at fourth all-time in Valpo history.
• Wright moved up Valpo’s charts in the 100 free, first with a prelim time of 53.15 and then a finals time of 53.09, tied for third in the program record books with Emily Fieselmann. She placed fifth overall in the event to help add 19 points to the team’s total. Martins placed ninth in the same event, while Markley swam a 53.40 in the finals to move into sixth in program history.
• Wright, Martins, Markley and Morelock ended the women’s day in the 800 free relay. The team added another fifth-place finish with a time of 7:56.64 to add 40 points to the team’s total. Wright’s leadoff 200 leg clocked in at 1:55.94, improving on her seventh-best time in program history.
• The men would start their day out strong as they notched a fifth-place finish in the 200 medley relay. Sophomore Derek Edison (Ventura, Calif./Ventura), sophomore Billy Bennett (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville), sophomore Dominic May (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) and freshman Adam Chwieros (Lake Villa, Ill./Grayslake North) posted a time of 1:34.91, which moves them into seventh all-time on Valpo’s top-10 list.
• Freshman Gus Rytting (Houston, Texas/Lamar) moved into eighth all time in Valpo history in the 200 IM, as he posted a time of 1:58.93 in the event finals.
• Freshman Brian Daniels (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield East) placed fourth in the 500 free, touching the wall at 4:43.41 to move into eighth overall in Valpo’s top-10 list. Sophomore Keenan Burgess (Charlotte, N.C./Christ the King) finished 10^th in the 500 free to give Valpo a pair of finishers in the ‘A’ final.
• Bennett twice improved upon his third-best time in program history in the 100 breaststroke, first swimming a 57.05 in the prelims and then a 56.98 Saturday night in the finals to earn a runner-up finish in the event. Rytting made his mark on the record book in the event as well, swimming a prelim time of 58.83 to move into sixth all-time at Valpo.
• Freshman Ethan Johnson (Ames, Iowa/Ames) posted a seventh-place finish in the 200 back, finishing with a time of 1:54.12. His time moves him into third all-time in the event in Valpo history.
• Eidson and May would both record top-10 finishes in the 100 free to add points to their team’s totals. Edison posted a time of 46.49 to place fourth overall and move into fourth in Valpo history, while May finished seventh overall, stopping the clock at 46.88.
• The men would conclude the day on a high note, finishing fourth in the 800 free relay. The team of Eidson, May, Daniels and senior Brendon Johnson (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) finished with a time of 6:58.35. The team moves into fifth all-time in Valpo history with that time, while Eidson’s opening split of 1:42.04 ranks fourth in program history in the 200 free.
• Through 24 events, the men and the women both sit in fourth place in the standings after the second day.

Up Next

The final slate of events for the 2019 Phoenix Fall Classic will occur on Sunday, beginning with prelims at 10 a.m, followed by final events at 6 p.m.