Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Valparaiso set school records in two events on Wednesday evening as the Crusaders began competition in the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships held in Brown Deer, Wis.  As a team, the Brown and Gold finished the opening day in seventh place out of eight schools through four events.

The Crusaders opened the meet in record-setting fashion with the 200 freestyle relay.  The team of Jaclyn Krause (Rochester, Mich./Notre Dame Prep H.S.), Shaunna Dangremond (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino H.S.), Becky Crabtree (Mason, Ohio/Mason H.S.), and Rachel Majercik (Schaumburg, Ill./Conant H.S.) touched the wall in a time of 1:36.46 to place sixth in the event.  The team bettered the previous school record of 1:36.90 by 0.44 seconds, set by the 2007 team.

Grace Arnold (Glendora, Calif./Glendora H.S.) continued the record-setting efforts in the 1,000 freestyle, finishing 13th overall, touching the wall in 10:37.43.  The sophomore bettered the old school mark of 10:39.16 set by Britt Nelson in 2005.

Valpo also had two other solid swims that cracked the top-five times in school history in the 1,000 free.  Kristy Shew (Terre Haute, Ind./North Vigo H.S.) finished with a time of 10:46.84, the fourth quickest mark ever at Valpo, while Stephanie Ferschl (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago H.S.) finished with the fifth best school mark ever, finishing with a time of 10:49.16.

The Brown and Gold nearly capped the night with yet another school record, but had to settle for the second best time ever in school laurels in the 200 medley relay.  The team of Dangremond, Amy Andracki (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect H.S.), Majercik, and Krause finished fifth overall with a time of 1:47.00, just 0.43 seconds off of the school record set a year ago.

The Crusaders scored 58 points on day one of competition at the four day event, and trail sixth place Cleveland State (61) by just three points while Youngstown State (71) is just 13 points ahead of Valpo in the fifth spot.  Milwaukee leads the championships with 180 points followed by Green Bay (127), Wright State (120), and UIC (111).  Butler rounds out the field with 44 points.

Valparaiso will return to the water on Thursday morning for day two of competition.  Preliminary heats will begin at 10:30 a.m. with finals slated for 6:30 p.m.