The Valparaiso University men’s and women’s swimming teams competed on the first day of action of the Phoenix Fall Classic at the University of Chicago Friday evening. The first day was highlighted by the women’s team of Paige Wright (Surprise, Ariz./Paradise Honors), Mikayla DePover (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island), Erica Martins (Hartland, Wis./Lake County Lutheran) and Morgan Markley (Bluffton, Ind./Norwell) shattering the 400-medley relay school record by almost six seconds.

How It Happened

• The team of Wright, DePover, Markley, and Martins destroyed the previous school record in the 400 medley relay (3:57.05) by almost six seconds, posting a time of 3:51.31. The team finished fourth overall in the event to score 42 points for their team.
• Wright led off the 400 medley with a 57.47 split in the opening 100 back, beating her previous best of 58.68 to rank second all-time in Valpo’s record book and only .02 off from breaking the record.
• Sophie Morelock (Milan, Mich./Milan) led off the 400 medley relay for a second Valpo quartet with a 59.82 split in the opening 100 back to move into seventh place all time on Valpo’s list.
• Sophomore Alexis Orange (Porter, Ind./Chesterton) posted a time of 18:15.60 in the 1650 free, finishing in 11^th position and improving upon her 10^th-best time in program history in the event.
• In the men’s events, sophomore Derek Eidson (Ventura, Calif./Ventura), freshman Adam Chweiros (Lake Villa, Ill./Grayslake North), sophomore Billy Bennett (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) and sophomore Dominic May (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) got things started in the 200 free relay, finishing with a 1:26.24 time, good for seventh place. The quartet moved into eighth on Valpo’s all-time top-10 in the event.
• Eidson’s leadoff 50 meters in the 200 free relay clocked in at 21.66 seconds, moving him into a tie for 10^th position in the event in program history.
• Brian Daniels (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield East) placed fifth overall in the 1650 free, touching the wall at 16.32.30 – the fifth-fastest time in program history in the event. Daniels swam the first 1000 of the 1650 in 10:02.23, improving upon his sixth-place mark in program history in the 1000 free.
• Sophomore Keenan Burgess (Charlotte, N.C./Chris the King) placed ninth overall in the 1650 free. His time of 16:59.58 moved him into 10^th all-time on Valpo’s top-10 list.
• Freshman Ethan Johnson (Ames, Iowa/Ames), Bennett, Eidson and Daniels recorded a ninth-place finish in the 400 medley relay. The team finished with a time of 3:30.95 to move them into seventh all-time on Valpo’s top-10 list.
• The men and the women’s team both sit in fourth place in the team standings out of nine teams after the first day.

Up Next

The second day of action commences with prelims on Saturday morning at 10 a.m., with event finals set to begin at 6 p.m.