Led by three individual victories by Britt Nelson (Cortland, N.Y./Homer H.S.), Valparaiso finished in second place at the Eastern Illinois Invitational held in Charleston, Ill. over the weekend.

The Crusaders 555 points trailed only Eastern Illinois' 721 in the standings. IUPUI was third with 464 followed by Butler (233) and Lincoln (168).

Nelson opened the individual meet with a win in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:17.14. Teammate Maggie Kroemer (Brown Deer, Wis./Milwaukee Lutheran H.S.) was second in the event with a time of 5:28.43, while Daniella Trombatore (Redding, Calif./Shasta H.S.) was fourth (5:30.74). Nelson also won the 200 free with a time of 2:00.42, while cruising to a 22 second win in the mile with a time of 18:11.19.

Allison Clark (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.) was third in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:17.53, while finishing second in the 400 IM (4:51.65). She also was second in the 200 breaststroke finishing in 2:32.23. Leah Schneider (Sussex, Wis./Arrowhead H.S.) was third in the 100 butterfly, touching the wall in 1:02.72.

Lauren Bambach (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman H.S.) was a third place finisher in the 100 backstroke with a mark of 1:04.11, while also finishing second in the 200 back (2:17.96). Katie Jajtner (Port Washington, Wis./Port Washington H.S.) was third in the same event with a time of 2:20.05.

Amanda Gregory (Carmel, Ind./Carmel H.S.) placed third in the 100 free with a time of 56.73 seconds.

Valpo's 800 free relay of Gregory, Korellis, Schneider, and Nelson also was victorious with a time of 8:09.46.

The Crusaders will return to dual meet action on Friday evening, hosting Lewis in a 6 p.m. meet at the Athletics-Recreation Center.