Valpo women’s swimming sophomore Sara Strauss (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake) broke the program’s 100 IM record on Thursday to highlight the first full day of competition at the 2023 MVC Championships in Iowa City, Iowa.

How It Happened

• Strauss posted a time of 1:00.07 in the 100 IM to set the new standard in the event, shaving over a half-second off the previous record and nearly two full seconds off her PR.
• Senior Sophie Morelock (Milan, Mich./Milan) also cracked Valpo’s all-time best in the 100 IM with a time of 1:02.78, moving into fifth in program history.
• In addition to her record-setting swim, Strauss also led the Beacons in the 50 free. Her time of 24.74 in the prelims was just .13 off of moving into the top-10 in program history in the event.
• Sophomore Bridget Pollard (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield South) paced the Valpo contingent in the 200 IM, touching the wall in 2:16.37, while freshman Emma Schmidt (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley) led the way for Valpo with a time of 5:14.00 in the 500 free.
• Valpo’s 200 free relay quartet of Strauss, Morelock, freshman Caroline Gorski (Melrose Park, Ill./Leyden) and sophomore Haley Hume (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette) claimed eighth-place points with a time of 1:39.62, the program’s fastest time of the season.
• Valpo concluded the day in 10^th place in the team standings with 112 total points.

Next Up

Valpo continues the 2023 MVC Championships on Friday from Iowa City. Prelims will begin at 10:30 a.m. and event finals at 6 p.m.