In a meet which has already seen the Crusaders move into the top-10 in program history in seven different events, including a new program record by sophomore Flavia Segatto (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Charleow Flanigan), the Valparaiso women’s swimming team sits in seventh place following the second of three days of action at the Calvin Winter Invitational in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The Crusaders have totaled 124 points through the meet’s first two days to sit in seventh place out of the nine competing teams.  Northern Michigan leads the team standings with 410 points.

Segatto swam to the event victory on Thursday evening in the 1650 free, touching the wall in the long-distance event in 17:23.68 to win by nearly six seconds.  The sophomore broke her own school record in the event by just over a second.  Junior Andrea Bretl (Wauwatosa, Wis./West) also improved upon her previous all-time best in the event, finishing in eighth place with a time of 17:57.33, the fourth-fastest in Crusader history.

Segatto posted a third-place finish as well in the 200 butterfly, qualifying third-fastest with a time of 2:08.90 and then finishing in the same spot, improving slightly to come home in 2:08.55.  The sophomore swam the 400 individual medley as an exhibition as well, moving into third in Crusader history in the event as she completed the prelims with a time of 4:41.99, which would have qualified her for the event final.

Bretl moved up Valpo’s all-time top-10 in a second event as well on Friday, as she now ranks eighth in Crusader history in the 200 free after a prelim time of 1:56.82, which was just shy of qualifying for the event final.  The junior earned a 12^th-place finish in the consolation final of the event.  Freshman Ciara Lightner (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) cracked Valpo’s all-time chart in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.70, fifth-fastest in Crusader history and good for a tenth-place finish in the consolation final.

Senior Justine Barnes (Rochester Hills, Mich./Adams) also made an appearance in a consolation final, qualifying 12^th for the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:16.67 and eventually placing 14^th.  Elsewhere, junior Alizabeth Taubert (Bloomington, Ill./University) finished 18^th in the bonus final of the 400 IM with a time of 4:56.84, Lightner posted Valpo’s top time with a time of 25.50 seconds in the prelims of the 50 free, eventually finishing 23^rd, and sophomore Makenna Cannon (Delafield, Wis./Kettle Moraine) swam a 1:09.64 in the prelims of the 100 breaststroke and eventually finished in 19^th place.

A pair of Crusader relays has also cracked Valpo’s all-time top-10s in the first two days.  The 800 free squad of Segatto, Bretl, Taubert and Cannon posted the third-best time in Crusader history with a time of 7:52.49, good for a seventh-place finish, while the team of Lightner, Cannon, Segatto and Bretl finished tenth in the 400 medley relay with a time of 4:05.90, eighth-fastest in Valpo history.  Lightner, Bretl, McBride and sophomore Lauren Knop (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) teamed up in the 200 free relay for a 10^th place finish, touching the wall in 1:41.88.

Valparaiso concludes the three-day Calvin Winter Invitational on Saturday.