Valparaiso University's women wrapped up the 2003 Mid-Continent Conference Swimming and Diving Championships with a fourth place finish on Saturday evening in Indianapolis, Ind.

The Crusaders scored 522 points over the three-day meet while Oakland won the team title with 1,057 points. IUPUI was second with 630 points, followed by Western Illinois with 598 points.

Julie Fisher (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso H.S.) opened the final day with an eighth place finish for the Brown and Gold. The senior touched the wall in the 200 backstroke in a time of 2:19.81.

Britt Nelson (Cortland, N.Y./Homer H.S.) and Katie Urbas (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette H.S.) finished in fifth and sixth place respectively in the 500 freestyle. Nelson touched the wall in 5:19.47, while Urbas was 5.29 seconds behind her teammate.

The 100 butterfly earned Valpo the most points in the meet. Ashley Seale (Maryville, Tenn./Maryville H.S.) earned runner-up honors with a time of 59.84 seconds while Leah Schneider (Sussex, Wis./Arrowhead H.S.) was right behind her with a time of 1:00.02. Urbas finished sixth in the same event with a time of 1:01.07, while Amanda Gregory (Carmel, Ind./Carmel H.S.) was seventh with a mark of 1:01.95.

Allison Clark (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) turned in a fourth place effort in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:28.74, while Gregory and Schneider finished seventh and eighth respectively in the 100 free. Gregory touched the wall in 55.53 seconds, while Schneider was .54 seconds behind her teammate.

Seale ended the individual events with a fifth place finish in the 200 individual medley. The sophomore finished in a time of 2:15.67.

Valpo's final event of the day, the 400 free relay, earned a third place finish. Nelson, Daniella Trombatore (Redding, Calif./Shasta H.S.), Gregory, and Schneider earned a time of 3:43.60.

Valpo will now take the holiday season off and return to the pool on January 8 when the Crusaders host Hope beginning at 5 p.m. at the Athletics-Recreation Center.