Box Score

                Valparaiso had three finalists in the 50 freestyle on Thursday evening and remains in sixth place in the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships following day two of competition in Cleveland, Ohio.

                The Crusaders have totaled 108 points through the first eight events of the four-day meet.  Green Bay leads the way with 320 points while Wright State and Milwaukee are tied for second with 292 points a piece.  UIC is fourth with 171 points while Youngstown State is just 12 points in front of the Brown and Gold.  Cleveland State is seventh with 90 points and Butler has 68 points to round out the field.

                Rachel Majercik (Schaumburg, Ill./Conant H.S.) led a trio of top-seven finishes for the Crusaders in the 50 free with a time of 24.11 seconds, the second fastest mark in Valpo history.  She finished third, just .09 seconds ahead of teammate Jaclyn Krause (Rochester, Mich./Notre Dame Prep H.S.), who swam the third fastest time ever.  Becky Crabtree (Mason, Ohio/Mason H.S.) finished seventh in the race with a time of 24.40 seconds, tied for the fourth best mark in school laurels.

                “We were very pleased with our showing in the 50,” interim head coach Barbara Tyree said.

                Grace Arnold (Glendora, Calif./Glendora H.S.) finished 14^th for the Crusaders in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:13.95.  The freshman turned in the second fastest time in school history in the morning’s preliminaries, touching the wall in 5:07.90, just over a second behind the school mark.

                “Grace had a very good 500 in the morning, but unfortunately she just missed the cut for the championship finals,” Tyree said.

                Valpo’s Amy Andracki (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect H.S.) turned in the team’s quickest 200 individual medley time of the meet, and the ninth fastest in school history, finishing with a time of 2:16.86.

                In one-meter diving, Anna Orwick (Broadlands, Ill./Champaign Centennial H.S.) finished 14^th with a score of 155.60 points while teammate Beth Niggemyer (Spokane, Wash./University H.S.) added another point with her 16^th place effort.

                The only downside of day two came in the final event for the Crusaders, as the 400 medley relay was disqualified.

                “This team is so young and I’ve been happy with what they’ve been doing,” Tyree concluded.  “We’re scoring well and right in the middle of the pack.  Without the DQ, we’d be even one spot higher in the standings.”

                Competition will continue on Friday with preliminary heats beginning at 9 a.m. CST and the finals slated for 5 p.m. CST.