Thursday, February 16, 2006

David Peterson (Schererville, Ind./Highland H.S.) and Adam Jajtner (Port Washington, Wis./Port Washington H.S.) set new school records Thursday at the Mid-Continent Conference Championships in Indianapolis, Ind. Valparaiso sits in seventh place after the first day of competition.

Peterson broke his own school record in the 200 individual medley, touching the wall in 1:55.43 during the preliminaries Thursday morning. His previous best was 1:56.43, set in the same venue last February. Peterson finished fifth in the finals with a time of 1:56.12, while Kyle Verage (Hubertus, Wis./Marquette H.S.) placed 15th in the event.

Jajtner set the new mark in the 500 freestyle, recording a time of 4:45.12, good for a ninth-place finish. Jajtner's time broke the record held briefly by teammate Bob Pedersen (Urbana, Ill./Urbana H.S.), who had set a school best with a time of 4:47.27 during the prelims. Pedersen finished 10th in the event final.

The Crusader team of Pedersen, Dan Cisek (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale South H.S.), Matt Schuchhardt (Neenah, Wis./Neenah H.S.), and Dave Kesler (Beverly Hills, Mich./Birmingham Groves H.S.) swam a season-best time in the 200 free relay, posting a sixth-place finish with a time of 1:28.87.

Valpo's 58 points place the team seventh after day one of the championships, a three-day affair. Oakland leads the pack with 319 points, while the Crusaders trail Western Illinois by just 17 points. Meet action resumes Friday morning at 10 a.m.