Saturday, December 03, 2005

Led by two top-five finishes from Tina Vande Vusse (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West H.S.), Valparaiso took home a sixth-place finish at this weekend's House of Champions Invitational in Indianapolis, Ind.

Vande Vusse touched the wall fourth in the 50 yard freestyle, an event she has excelled in so far this year, with a time of 24.76. The freshman's time was the fastest of her career and ranks fifth-best in Crusader swimming history.

She followed that effort up with a runner-up finish in the 100 yard butterfly. In her first effort of the season in the event, Vande Vusse came home in 59.49, passing teammate Leah Schneider (Sussex, Wis./Arrowhead H.S.) for third all-time on Valpo's all-time chart for the 100 fly.

Three relay events provided the only other top-five finishes for the Crusaders on the weekend. The best result for a Valpo relay was a third-place finish in the 200 free relay, as Rachel Korellis (Champaign, Ill./Centennial H.S.), Amanda Gregory (Carmel, Ind./Carmel H.S.), Schneider, and Vande Vusse finished with a time of 1:40.76.

Ball State captured the team title, tallying 930 total points. The Crusaders ended the invitational with 245 points.

The Crusaders return to action in two weekends, traveling south to take on Florida Southern in a dual meet on Friday, December 16. The first event is slated to begin at 9 a.m.