Saturday, December 03, 2005

Four different Crusader swimmers brought home multiple top-five finishes to lead Valparaiso to a fifth-place finish at the House of Champions Invitational this weekend in Indianapolis, Ind.

Senior Bob Pedersen (Urbana, Ill./Urbana H.S.) paced Valpo with three top-five finishes. Pedersen came home in third place in the 100 yard butterfly (54.58), followed by a runner-up finish in the 200 fly (2:00.70). He also placed second in the 500 free (4:49.80), falling just .08 of a second short of breaking the school record.

Ansel Hillmer (Tampa, Fla./Hillsborough H.S.) joined Pedersen among the top-five in the two butterfly events. Hillmer touched the wall in the 100 fly in 54.15, good for second place, while he posted a fourth-place finish in the 200 fly in 2:01.33.

David Peterson (Schererville, Ind./Highland H.S.) came home third in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:00.42, and followed that effort with a time of 2:14.91 in the 200 yard breaststroke, placing fourth. Travis Thames (Tucson, Ariz./Canyon Del Oro H.S.) excelled in the backstroke events for Valpo, finishing second in the 100 back in 53.57 seconds, and touching the wall fourth in the 200 back in 1:58.31.

Ball State took home the team championship, finishing with 771 points, while Valparaiso tallied 458 points on the weekend.

The Crusaders return to action in two weekends, traveling south to take on Florida Southern in a dual meet on Friday, December 16. The first event is slated to begin at 9 a.m.