The Valpo men’s swimming team capped off regular season competition on Friday evening at the Valparaiso Aquatic Center, facing off with Ball State in dual meet action.

How It Happened

• Five different Beacons posted second-place finishes in individual events on Friday, all of them coming from underclassmen. Sophomore Brendan Stangeland (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) came home second in the 100 breast with a time of 1:00.44, while classmate Andrew Berzai (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) touched the wall in the 200 breast in 2:14.12 for his runner-up finish.
• Freshman Jackson Oostman (Aurora, Ill./Marmion Academy) led Valpo in three events, one of which was his second-place finish in the 400 IM (4:18.94). Freshman Matthew Mantz (Spokane, Wash./Mead) completed the 200 fly in 1:59.84 to finish in second and fellow rookie Ricky Helmboldt (Tucson, Ariz./Arizona Connections Academy) covered the 500 free in 4:54.22 to place second.
• Two Valpo swimmers had third-place individual finishes as well. Freshman Dathan Wolf (Columbus, Ind./Columbus East) led Valpo in the 100 back with a time of 54.58 to finish third, while freshman Anthony Martin (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) came home third in the 100 free with a time of 48.81.
• The visiting Cardinals won the team scoring, 155-99.

Next Up

Valpo has just under a month to prepare for the Mid-American Conference Championships. The four-day conference championship meet begins Wednesday, March 1 in Oxford, Ohio.