The Valpo men’s and women’s swimming teams closed out a busy 24-hour stretch on Saturday afternoon with double-dual meet action against Saint Louis and Little Rock in St. Louis, Mo.

How It Happened

• The Valpo women had four swimmers lead the way in two events apiece. Freshman Emma Schmidt (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley) had the top placement of any Beacon, touching the wall sixth in both the 1000 (11:15.60) and the 500 free (5:29.10).
• Fellow rookie Caroline Gorski (Melrose Park, Ill./Leyden) led the way for Valpo in both the 200 free (2:04.72) and the 100 free (57.68).
• Sophomores Bridget Pollard (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield South) and Sara Strauss (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake) had a pair of team-best efforts as well. Pollard paced Valpo in the 200 IM (2:21.42) and the 200 fly (2:23.23), while Strauss led the Beacons in the 50 free (26.47) and the 200 breast (2:33.67).
• On the men’s side, three Valpo swimmers led the Beacons in two events each. Freshman Jackson Oostman (Aurora, Ill./Marmion Academy) had a team-best third-place finish in the 200 IM (1:59.10) and also paced Valpo in the 100 free (49.55).
• Freshmen Matthew Mantz (Spokane, Wash./Mead) and Anthony Martin (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) both led the Beacon contingent in a pair of events as well. Mantz was Valpo’s top finisher in the 1000 (10:31.76) and the 200 fly (2:02.40), while Martin led the way in the 50 free (22.37) and the 200 back (2:03.18).
• Saint Louis won the dual meet scoring on the men’s side, while SLU and Little Rock each came out ahead in the dual scoring on the women’s side.

Next Up

Valpo returns to the pool for the Butler Invitational in Fishers, Ind. next Sunday, Jan. 29. That meet will be the final tuneup for the Beacon women’s team prior to the MVC Championships.