Friday, December 03, 2004

After finishing in second place after the first day of the Mid-Continent Conference Swimming and Diving Championships, Valparaiso fell to fourth place on Friday, following the second of three days of the competition held in Rochester, Mich.

Valpo has tallied 309 points, trailing third place IUPUI by just 11 in the standings. Oakland leads heading into the final day with 556 points, followed by Western Illinois with 397 points. Centenary is fifth with 180 points.

Valpo started Friday with a third place finish in the 200 freestyle relay. Amanda Gregory (Carmel, Ind./Carmel H.S.), Lauren Bambach (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman H.S.), Rachel Korellis (Champaign, Ill./Centennial H.S.), and Britt Nelson (Cortland, N.Y./Homer H.S.) touched the wall in 1:41.34.

In the 200 butterfly, Leah Schneider (Sussex, Wis./Arrowhead H.S.) led the way for the Brown and Gold with a fourth place finish with a time of 2:14.03. Maggie Kroemer (Brown Deer, Wis./Milwaukee Lutheran H.S.) also earned a top-eight finish in the event with a mark of 2:20.06.

Nelson and Gregory finished in sixth and seventh place respectively in the 200 freestyle. Nelson turned in a time of 1:58.91, while Gregory was on place behind in 2:00.38.

Ashley Seale (Maryville, Tenn./Maryvile H.S.) was Valpo's lone swimmer in the 100 breaststroke, placing seventh in 1:10.84. The 100 backstroke saw another sixth and seventh place finish for the Crusaders. Bambach was sixth with a mark of 1:02.30, while Katie Jajtner (Port Washington, Wis./Port Washington H.S.) was .82 seconds behind.

Allison Clark (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) finished second in the 400 individual medley, earning the Brown and Gold's top finish of the day. Her time of 4:41.07 was more than ten seconds in front of the third place finisher.

The final individual event of the day saw Gregory earn another top-eight finish. Her time of 25.40 seconds in the 50 free placed her seventh overall.

Valpo finished day two with a third place effort in the 400 medley relay. Bambach, Clark, Schneider, and Nelson touched the wall in 4:07.21.

The Crusaders will conclude competition on Saturday, with preliminary heats beginning at 9 a.m. CST and the finals starting at 5 p.m. CST.