Taking advantage of the University being on fall break, the Valpo men’s and women’s swimming teams took to the pool for a pair of road meets this weekend. The Beacons competed first at IUPUI in a dual meet on Friday afternoon before turning around for a tri-meet at Evansville and against Southern Indiana on Saturday afternoon.

How It Happened – IUPUI

• Two swimmers on the women’s side led the Beacons in a pair of events apiece. Freshman Avery Ball (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) paced Valpo in the 200 IM (2:19.17) and the 100 back (1:01.90), finishing second in the latter event.
• Junior Sara Strauss (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake) touched the wall first for the Beacons in both the 100 free (55.36) and the 100 breast (1:09.59).
• Valpo’s 200 free relay squad of freshman Sophie Schoch (Medina, Ohio/Medina), junior Haley Hume (Ballwin, Mo./Marquette), freshman Avah Watson (Williamsport, Ind./Seeger) and freshman Faith Bargwell (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rockford) posted a second-place finish with a time of 1:43.23.
• On the men’s side against the Jaguars, sophomore Dathan Wolf (Columbus, Ind./Columbus East) led the Valpo contingent in the 50 free (22.86) and the 100 back (55.48).
• Sophomore Jackson Oostman (Aurora, Ill./Marmion Academy) paced the Beacons versus IUPUI in the 200 IM (1:56.06) while also leading off both of Valpo’s relay squads.
• Final scores were 127-74 on the women’s side and 127-73 on the men’s side, both in favor of IUPUI.

How It Happened – Evansville/Southern Indiana

• Oostman notched a first-place finish in Saturday’s tri-meet, touching the wall first in the 400 IM with a time of 4:13.56. Later in the afternoon, the sophomore placed third with a team-best time of 1:59.47 in the 200 back.
• Two other Beacon men had a pair of team-best swims on Saturday as well. Sophomore Ricky Helmboldt (Tucson, Ariz./Arizona Connections Academy) came home third overall in the 1000 free (10:16.58) and second overall in the 500 free (5:00.92).
• Meanwhile, sophomore Anthony Martin (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) placed second in the 200 free (1:46.94) before also pacing the Beacons in the 100 free (48.40).
• On the women’s side, Bargwell led Valpo in a pair of events on Saturday, leading the Valpo pack in the 50 free with a third-place overall finish (25.35) and in the 100 free (56.12).
• Three other Valpo women had third-place individual finishes — Schoch in the 200 back (2:15.12), freshman Olivia Tressler (Las Vegas, Nev./Desert Oasis) in the 400 IM (4:56.31) and freshman Kailyn Benoit (Sussex, Wis./Hamilton) in the 200 fly (2:15.87).
• The Valpo men fell 166-56 to Evansville and 127-110 to Southern Indiana, while the women fell 157-70 to Evansville and 143-88 to Southern Indiana.

Next Up

Valpo continues early-season competition next weekend with a tri-meet at Bellarmine on Saturday, Oct. 21 which will also feature Eastern Illinois.