The Valparaiso University men’s and women’s swimming teams competed on day one at the Calvin College Winter Invitational in Grand Rapids, Mich., as the Crusader men finished the day in fourth place and the women in sixth place. The Crusaders had two relay teams and two individual swimmers enter the all-time top-ten lists with their Thursday performances.

How It Happened

• For the men, sophomore Robert Bretl (Wauwatosa, Wis./Marquette University H.S.) improved upon his fifth-best time in program history in the 1,650 freestyle race with a time of 16:45.66. Bretl surpassed his previous time by six seconds to finish the event in seventh place.
• The 800-yard freestyle relay team of sophomore Dylan Kirar (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley), sophomore Mac Sogandares (Reston, Va./South Lakes), senior Arman Salim (Angola, Ind./Fremont) and freshman Peyton Stambeck (Bartlesville, Okla./Bartlesville) swam a 7:01.12 for a season-best time and seventh-place finish at the Invite, which earns the squad the third-place slot on Valpo’s all-time list.
• On the women’s side, senior Rachel Law (Wayne, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) moves up on the all-time list for the Crusaders into fifth position after swimming a 17:58.68 in the 1,650-yard freestyle race. Finishing in sixth today, Law improves on her season-best time by nearly 40 seconds and surpassed her previous career best by five seconds.
• Freshman Paige Wright (Surprise, Ariz./Paradise Honor), junior Amanda Jenny (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany), senior Emily Trimpe (New Palestine, Ind./New Palestine) and Law earned sixth place in the 800-yard freestyle relay (7:56.32), placing the team in eighth on the top-ten list all-time at Valpo.

Next Up

The Crusaders resume action tomorrow, Friday, Dec. 2 at Calvin. The first event is slated to start at 9 a.m. CT. Links to live results can be found on ValpoAthletics.com.