The Valparaiso University men’s and women’s swimming teams competed on day two at the Calvin College Winter Invitational on Friday, with the men sitting in sixth place and the women in seventh place after 38 events. The Crusaders’ highlight of the day was freshman Paige Wright (Surprise, Ariz./Paradise Honor) breaking the school’s 24-year old 100-yard backstroke record with a time of 58.58.

How It Happened

• Almost breaking the 400-yard individual medley school record, sophomore Dylan Kirar (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley) swam an impressive 4:08.87 to land in second on the all-time ranks and received a fifth-place finish on day two.
• Freshman Brendon Johnson (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) finished close behind Kirar in the same event, recording a seventh-place finish after moving into sixth in Valpo history in the prelims with a time of 4:11.97.
• Junior Max Penn (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) just missed breaking his own school record in the 100-yard backstroke with a solid time of 51.07 to garner a sixth-place result.
• Freshman Dylan Ogle (Simpsonville, S.C./Mauldin) had two stellar performances on the day, both coming in the 200-yard butterfly. In the morning session, Ogle swam a 1:52.49, just missing the school record by 49-hundredths of a second, and in the evening, he hit the wall at 1:55.12 to capture seventh.
• Two Crusader men cracked Valpo’s all-time top-10 in the 200 free. Sophomore Mac Sogandares (Reston, Va./South Lakes) placed seventh all-time in the event with a time of 1:44.64 in the prelims, and then in the evening, freshman Peyton Stambeck (Bartlesville, Okla./Bartlesville) moved into 10th place in the event in program history with a time of 1:45.23, good for 10th place at the meet.
• Stambeck also entered the Valpo annals in the 50 free, swimming a time of 21.67 in the prelims to move into eighth on the Crusaders’ all-time chart in the event, while junior Grant Girten (Blue Ash, Ohio/Sycamore) moved up to seventh spot in Valpo history in the 100 back with a time of 52.96 Friday morning.
• For the women, Wright trimmed two seconds off her preliminary time to earn the school record in the 100-yard backstroke with her time of 58.68 seconds, breaking the mark of 58.71 seconds set by Paige Hassinger in 1992 by 13-hundredths of a second. Wright finished in ninth place overall on Friday.
• Freshman Tara Lawson (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) moved into fifth in Valpo history in the same event with a finishing time of 59.48 seconds.
• Freshman Erica Martins (Hartland, Wis./Lake County Lutheran) also cracked a top-10 in Friday, as her time of 2:15.53 in the 200 butterfly was 10th-best in Crusader history.
• The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Martins, senior Emily Trimpe (New Palestine, Ind./New Palestine), junior Amanda Jenny (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) and Wright placed ninth with a time of 1:40.12.
• Trimpe nearly surpassed her fifth-place spot on the all-time chart in the 100-yard breaststroke. The Crusader veteran earned tenth place on Friday with a time of 1:07.42.

Next Up

Valpo is back in action tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 3 for day three at the Calvin Invite. First race begins at 9 a.m. CT and live stats can be found on ValpoAthletics.com.