Saturday, November 05, 2005

David Peterson (Schererville, Ind./Highland H.S.) won three events as Valparaiso finished fourth at the Eastern Illinois Invitational Friday and Saturday in Charleston, Ill.

The Crusaders finished with 333 points while the host Panthers won the meet with 729 points.

Peterson started his weekend with a victory in the 200 individual medley on Friday evening with a time of 1:59.40. On Saturday, he posted a win in the 100 breaststroke by more than a second with a time of 1:00.90 and then was triumphant in the 200 breast with a mark of 2:12.70, winning by more than five seconds.

Valpo's 400 medley relay finished runner-up as Travis Thames (Tucson, Ariz./Canyon Del Oro H.S.), Peterson, Travers Smith (Huntley, Ill./Huntley H.S.), and Bob Pedersen (Urbana, Ill./Urbana H.S.) touched the wall in 3:40.28.

In the 500 free, Smith finished just .40 seconds off of the lead with his runner-up finish of 4:59.40.

The Crusaders also earned four third place finishes over the weekend. Smith was third in the 200 free with a time of 1:49.96 while Thames earned the same spot in the 100 backstroke (55.15 seconds) and 200 back (2:01.46). Adam Jajtner (Port Washington, Wis./Port Washington H.S.) finished third in the 1650 touching the wall in 18:08.98.

Valpo will return to the pool against South Dakota State and Wisconsin-Green Bay on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Green Bay, Wis.