Valparaiso’s men’s swimming and diving team took to the waters for the first time on Friday night, and finished in fourth place at the Dennis Stark Relays hosted by Notre Dame.

The event, which consisted of all relays, was won by Michigan with 194 points with the host Fighting Irish finishing second with 162 points.  Oakland finished just ahead of the Crusaders with 136 points to Valpo’s 92.  The Crusaders topped Horizon League foe Cleveland State, though, as the Vikings finished fifth with 82 points.

“With the small numbers we had I thought we went out well and raced every event hard,” head coach Howard Hunte said after the meet.  “I am pleased with how we started the year.”

The Crusaders’ 200 freestyle relay of Ryan Burling (Morris, Ill./Morris Community H.S.), James Shang (Shanghai, China/Concordia International H.S.), Thomas Patrick (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead H.S.), and Andrew Hipskind (New Palestine, Ind./New Palestine H.S.) turned in a fourth place finish with a time of 1:35.91.

The 800 free relay also finished fourth on the day with Blake Edwards (Orange, Calif./Lutheran H.S. of Orange County), Kevin Fedde (Fort Collins, Colo./Heritage Christian H.S.), Steve Booth (Saint Joseph, Mich./Saint Joseph H.S.), and David Sivak (Hobart, Ind./Hobart H.S.) touching the wall in 7:27.83.

Valpo added a fourth place finish in the 400 backstroke relay with the team of Hipskind, Fedde, Edwards, and Sivak posting a time of 4:02.01.  Another fourth place finish in the 400 breaststroke relay saw the Crusaders post of time of 4:40.52 with the team of Trevor Trimpe (New Palestine, Ind./Connersville H.S.), Toshko Ganzorigt (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/Orchlon H.S.), Burling, and Shang.

Two more fourth place finishes helped the Crusaders secure their final spot.  Hipskind, Patrick, Gonzorigt, and Shang earned that place in the 200 medley relay with a mark of 1:55.31 while Austin Hunter (La Crescent, Minn./La Crescent H.S.), Fedde, Hipskind, and Edwards touching the wall in 3:20.91.

Valparaiso will return to the water on Saturday at the Indiana Intercollegiates hosted by Purdue.  The first race begins at 11 a.m. CDT in West Lafayette, Ind.