Valparaiso opened the2011 Horizon League Championships in seventh place following the opening day of competition at Busbey Natatorium in Cleveland, Ohio.  The Crusaders tallied 48 points on day one, four points ahead of eighth place Butler.

Green Bay leads the way through four events with 155 points followed by Milwaukee (134) and Cleveland State (116).  Wright State is currently fourth with 102 points, with Youngstown State (92) and UIC (91) just ahead of the Crusaders.

Valpo opened the meet with a seventh place effort in the 200 freestyle relay.  Laura Rickey (Monmouth, Ill./Monmouth-Roseville H.S.), Shaunna Dangremond (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino H.S.), Alizabeth Taubert (Bloomington, Ill./University H.S.), and Natalie Jarrett (Lebanon, Ind./Western Boone H.S.) turned in a time of 1:40.48, a season’s best time by more than three seconds.

In the only individual swimming event of day one, freshman Andrea Bretl (Wauwatosa, Wis./West H.S.) touched the wall in 10:59.99 to lead the way for the Brown and Gold, posting the seventh fastest mark in the event in school history.  Taubert, a classmate of Bretl’s, finished just 0.04 seconds behind her, ranking eighth all-time at Valpo with her time of 11:00.03. 

Stephanie Ferschl (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago H.S.) turned in a season’s best time in the 1000 with her mark of 11:13.10 while Katrina Peters (Crystal Lake, Ill./Central H.S.) and Katie Meunier (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago H.S.) added collegiate bests with times of 12:12.26 and 12:26.90 respectively.

The opening day wrapped up with the 200 medley relay, where the Crusaders raced to a seventh place finish.  Jarrett, Amy Andracki  (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect H.S.), Dangremond, and Rickey touched the wall in 1:48.94, the third best mark in Valparaiso history.

Valparaiso will return to for day two of the four day meet on Thursday.  Preliminary heats begin at 9 a.m. CST with the night’s finals beginning at 4:30 p.m. CST.