Four top-five finishes, including three by sophomore Flavia Segatto (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Charleow Flanigan), highlighted the Valparaiso women’s swimming and diving team’s fifth-place team finish at the Woehnker Invitational in Crawfordsville, Ind., hosted by Wabash.

The Crusaders totaled 304.5 points over the two-day event to finish in fifth place.  Carthage earned the team title with 730.5 points.

Segatto picked up top-three finishes in three of her four individual events, highlighted by second-place showings in the 1650 free (18:03.64) and 200 butterfly (2:14.86).  The sophomore swam to a third-place finish in the 500 free with a time of 5:18.21, while her quartet of individual swims was rounded out by a sixth-place finish in the 400 individual medley (4:53.15).

Valpo’s other top-five finish in the meet came courtesy of freshman Ciara Lightner (Dixon, Ill./Dixon), who placed fourth in the 100 backstroke after touching the wall in 1:03.21.  Lightner also paced the Crusader pack in both the 50 and 100 frees, with respective times of 25.91 and 57.66 seconds.

Junior Andrea Bretl (Wauwatosa, Wis./West) earned top-eight finishes in each of her three individual swims on the weekend.  Bretl finished in sixth place in both the 1650 free (18:36.76) and the 500 free (5:25.31), while also placing eighth in the 200 free (2:01.69).

Senior Justine Barnes (Rochester Hills, Mich./Adams) touched the wall sixth in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:25.96, and also paced the Crusader swimmers in the 100 fly with a time of 1:02.86, good for tenth place.  Sophomore Makenna Cannon (Delafield, Wis./Kettle Moraine) and junior Ali Taubert (Bloomington, Ill./University) each posted ninth-place finishes in the 200 breaststroke (2:38.74) and 400 individual medley (5:03.79), respectively.

Valpo earned two sixth-place finishes in the three relay events.  The 200 free squad of Lightner, freshman Erin McBride (St. Louis, Mo./Webster Groves), sophomore Lauren Knop (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) and Bretl touched the wall sixth with a time of 1:44.54, while the 800 free team of Segatto, Bretl, Taubert and Cannon also finished sixth, covering the distance in 8:08.22.  Valpo’s 200 medley quartet of Lightner, Cannon, Barnes and McBride finished in 1:56.98, good for seventh place.

Valparaiso returns to the pool next at the Calvin Winter Invitational in Grand Rapids, Mich.  The three-day meet kicks off on Thursday, Nov. 29.