A pair of top-five finishes from senior Dominic May (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) and impressive swims from freshmen in their first collegiate competition highlighted the day for the Valpo swimming program on Sunday, as the Beacons’ men and women jumped in the pool for the first time at the Butler Double Duals.

How It Happened

• May picked up right where he left off last spring, with a pair of strong swims in the sprint freestyles. The senior touched the wall third in the 100 free with a time of 47.67 after placing fifth with a time of 21.65 earlier in the day in the 50 free.
• Meanwhile, the youth of both the men’s and the women’s team stood out, as combined, freshmen led Valpo in 10 of the 18 individual events Sunday. The first-year contingent was led by a pair of top-10 finishes from Ethan Welker (Clear Spring, Md./Saint James School), who came home seventh in the 200 fly (2:01.46) and ninth in the 400 IM (4:23.49).
• Two other rookies on the men’s side posted team-best swims on Sunday. Andrew Berzai (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) recorded a time of 2:09.82 in the 200 back, while Alex Koetter (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller) finished the 200 breast in 2:22.30.
• On the women’s side, freshmen Haley Hume (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette) and Bridget Pollard (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield South) led the Beacons in two events apiece. Hume touched the wall in 2:03.53 in the 200 free and in 2:17.08 in the 200 back. Pollard paced Valpo in the 400 IM (4:55.16) and the 200 fly (2:24.96).
• Fellow rookies Dot Chislett (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) and Sara Strauss (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake) paced Valpo in one event each as well. Chislett sprinted to a time of 26.19 in the 50 free, while Strauss capped the individual events with a time of 2:39.50 in the 200 breast.
• Veterans led Valpo on Sunday in the distance swims. On the men’s side, senior Keenan Burgess (Charlotte, N.C./Christ the King) posted times of 11:39.10 in the 1000 free and 5:37.00 in the 500 free. Junior Sophie Morelock (Milan, Mich./Milan) led the Beacons in the same events on the women’s side, finishing the 1000 free in 12:06.04 and the 500 free in 5:47.53.
• Sophomore Liam Winans (Pensacola, Fla./Booker T. Washington) posted a time of 1:56.31 to lead the Valpo men in the 200 free, while senior Chiara Robinson (Castle Pines, Colo./Rock Canyon) paced the Valpo women in the 100 free, touching the wall in 56.45.
• The women posted relay times of 2:05.62 in the 200 medley relay to kick off the meet and 3:50.15 in the 400 free relay to close their action, while the men posted respective times of 1:39.80 and 3:26.05 in the same events.
• The meet featured challenging competition. The men’s field was comprised of Xavier, Saint Louis and IUPUI, and the women faced the same opponents and added host Butler.

Next Up

Valpo will host its Alumni Meet at the ARC pool as part of Homecoming Weekend this Saturday, Oct. 2 at 9 a.m. The next intercollegiate competition for the Beacons will be a dual meet at Evansville on Friday, Oct. 15.