Friday, December 06, 2002

The Valparaiso men's swim team remained in fourth place at the Mid-Continent Conference Swimming and Diving Championships after the second day of competition in Rochester, Mich. on Friday.

The Crusaders have tallied 198 points through 22 events. Oakland, the three-time defending champions, lead the meet with 529 points, followed by Western Illinois (392 pts.), IUPUI (371 pts.), and the Crusaders.

Valpo began the day with a fourth place finish in the 200 freestyle relay as the team of Bob Schmidt (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville H.S.), Sean Conrin (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Buffalo Grove H.S.), Bob Pedersen (Urbana, Ill./Urbana H.S.), and David Kesler (Beverly Hills, Mich./Birmingham Groves H.S.) recorded the fifth fastest time in Valpo history, 1:27.77.

Neal Badgett (Houston, Texas/Strake Jesuit Prep H.S.) earned a top-eight finish in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:03.54, placing sixth. Schmidt turned in the fifth best time in school history in the 200 free, touching the wall in seventh place. The freshman's time was 1:47.10.

Mike Hermes (Hudson, Ill./U-High) placed fifth for the Brown and Gold in the 100 breaststoke with a time of 1:00.33, while Conrin (21.90) and Schmidt (22.12) finished sixth and seventh respectively in the 50 free.

Competition will conclude on Saturday at the conference championships.