The Valparaiso women’s track and field squad closed out competition at the 2011 Horizon League Indoor Championships Sunday in Geneva, Ohio, finishing the meet in seventh place.

The Crusaders tallied 9.5 points over the two days of action to place seventh.  Milwaukee earned the team championship with 154 points.

Freshman Sarah Drozdowski (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) added another top-five placement to her resume Sunday.  One day after finishing fourth in the weight throw, Drozdowski came back with a season-best mark of 41’3 ¾” in the shot put, good for fifth place.  Her toss improved upon her third-best mark in program history in the event.

On the track Sunday, a pair of freshmen led the Crusaders in the mile run.  Nicole Zehel (Wixom, Mich./Lutheran Westland) ran to a 12th place finish, covering the mile in 5:25.95, while fellow rookie Grace Shemwell (Clinton, Iowa/Clinton) was right behind Zehel in 13th place, finishing with a PR of 5:26.31 in the event. Fifth-year senior Whitney Bowman (Portage, Ind./Portage [Purdue]) paced Valpo in the 3,000m run, crossing the line in 10:52.36, good for 17th position.

The league championship meet closed the Crusaders’ 2011 indoor campaign.  Valpo will return to action outdoors in late March at the Polar Bear Invitational in Marion, Ind.