Saturday, December 01, 2012

The Valparaiso women’s swimming team had four more performances crack the program’s all-time best on Saturday as the Crusaders closed out the Calvin Winter Invitational with a seventh-place finish.

The Crusaders tallied 209 points to place seventh out of 12 competing teams.  Grand Valley State took the team title with 824 points.

Three different Valpo swimmers moved up the Crusaders’ all-time top-10s on Saturday.  Junior Andrea Bretl (Wauwatosa, Wis./West) finished tenth in the consolation final of the 500 free with a time of 5:13.57, seventh-fastest in Valpo history, while sophomore Flavia Segatto (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Charleow Flanigan) placed third in the final of the same event, touching the wall in 5:07.22.

Freshman Ciara Lightner (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) moved into eighth in Crusader history in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:14.34, as she swam the prelims as an exhibition swimmer.  Meanwhile, sophomore Lauren Knop (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) posted a prelim time of 1:00.29 in the 100 butterfly to move into tenth all-time at Valpo in the event, eventually placing 14^th in the consolation final.

Senior Justine Barnes (Rochester Hills, Mich./Adams) was the fastest swimmer in the consolation final of the 100 butterfly, finishing in ninth place overall with a time of 1:00.20.  Sophomore Makenna Cannon (Delafield, Wis./Kettle Moraine) swam the 200 breaststroke in 2:31.66 in the prelim round and eventually finished 13^th in the consolation final, while Lightner paced the Crusader contingent in the 100 free with a time of 55.08 seconds.

Lightner, Cannon, Knop and freshman Erin McBride (St. Louis, Mo./Webster Groves) combined for the eighth-fastest time in program history in the 200 medley relay, touching the wall in 1:52.46, good for a tenth-place finish.  In the other relay on Saturday, Bretl, Lightner, Knop and McBride placed ninth in the 400 free relay, posting a time of 3:41.99.

Valparaiso returns to the pool at the ARC for the first time this season next Saturday as the Crusaders host Green Bay in dual meet action.  The first event is slated for a 2 p.m. start.