The Valpo men’s and women’s swimming teams took to the pool Saturday in Charleston, Ill. for a dual meet at Eastern Illinois. The Beacons claimed six first-place finishes over the course of the meet, which served as the women’s final regular season meet heading into the MVC Championships.

How It Happened

• On the women’s side, freshman Haley Hume (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette) — who had already broken into Valpo’s all-time top-10 in two events during her first season — moved into fourth place in program history in the 100 IM with a time of 1:04.66, earning the event win.
• Two Valpo men picked up a pair of first-place finishes on Saturday. Senior Billy Bennett (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) was the class of the meet in the breaststroke events, coming home first in both the 50 breast (27.31) and the 100 breast (59.50).
• Fresh off of earning MAC Men’s Swimmer of the Week honors, senior Dominic May (Naperville, Ill./Naperville) topped the field in both the 50 free (21.33) and the 100 free (46.89).
• Sophomore Ian Jaegers (Los Alamos, N.M./Los Alamos) rounded out Valpo’s event winners by taking top honors with a time of 56.31 in the 100 back. Jaegers also posted a second-place finish on Saturday in the 50 back with a time of 26.34, while senior Derek Eidson (Ventura, Calif./Ventura) registered a second-place finish of his own in the 50 fly, touching the wall in 23.89.
• The freestyle events saw two Valpo women earn a pair of second-place finishes apiece. In the sprints, it was senior Chiara Robinson (Castle Pines, Colo./Rock Canyon) who touched the wall second in both the 50 free (25.48) and the 100 free (56.40).
• In the distance swims, freshman Bridget Pollard (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield South) claimed second place in both the 1000 (11:28.28) and the 500 (5:28.68).
• Junior Sophie Morelock (Milan, Mich./Milan) placed second in the 100 back with a time of 1:03.45, and freshman Sara Strauss (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake) matched her with a second in the 100 breast, coming home in 1:11.32.
• Eastern Illinois won the team scoring, 169-93 on the men’s side and 198-63 on the women’s side.

Next Up

The Valpo men return to action for their final dual meet of the regular season next Saturday at Ball State. The women return to the pool for the Missouri Valley Conference Championships in Iowa City, Iowa Feb. 16-19.