The Calvin Invitational opened on Thursday evening for the Valparaiso men’s swim team, with the Crusaders sitting in sixth place after the first of three days in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The Crusaders tallied 44 points on day one just one point behind fifth place Kalamazoo and four points behind fourth place Calvin.  Grand Valley State leads the way with 151 points followed by Wabash with 63 points and Olivet with 56 points.  Alma is behind Valpo with 38 points.

Valpo’s night began with the 1650 freestyle.  Kevin Fedde (Fort Collins, Colo./Heritage Christian H.S.), swimming the mile for the first time this season, led the way for the Crusaders with a 13th place finish with a time of 17:32.14.  Steve Booth (Saint Joseph, Mich./Saint Joseph H.S.) also posted a time of 19:03.30 in the event.

The 800 freestyle relay then added a season’s best time on the way to a fifth place finish.  David Sivak (Hobart, Ind./Hobart H.S.) led off with a 200 time of 1:44.06, a season’s best, and was followed by Tate Wegehaupt (Tigard, Ore./Tigard H.S.), Trevor Trimpe (New Palestine, Ind./Connersville H.S.), and Fedde on the way to turning in a time of 7:12.75.

Valparaiso will return to the water on Friday morning for day two of competition.  The preliminary heats start at 9 a.m. CDT with the evening’s finals beginning at 5 p.m. CDT.