The Valparaiso University men’s and women’s swimming teams fell in a close meet against Eastern Illinois in their first competition this season at the ARC. There were plenty of bright spots for the Crusaders as the men won six events and the women won three. Senior Amanda Jenny (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) and junior Dylan Kirar (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley) led the way with two individual wins each. Kirar and junior classmate Bob Bretl (Wauwatosa, Wis./Marquette University H.S.) both moved up the Valpo all-time top-ten list in the 1000-free.

The Crusader women went down to EIU by a score of 167-94, while the men fell to the Panthers, 140-122.

The other individual winners for the Crusaders were junior Mac Sogandares (Reston, Va./South Lakes) in the 200-free, senior Max Penn (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep.) in the 100-back, sophomore Dylan Ogle (Simpsonville, S.C./Mauldin) in the 200-fly, and sophomore Harrison Jenny (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) in the 50-free. The women were victorious the 200-free relay.

In the first event of the day, the 200-medley relay, the women touched second in 1:56.18. That team consisted of freshman Megan Lugar (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern), sophomore Kenzy Tibbot (Lebanon, Ind./Lebanon), sophomore Erica Martins (Hartland, Wis./Lake County Lutheran) and sophomore Paige Wright (Surprise, Ariz./Paradise Honors). The men, made up of Penn, sophomore Adrian Acero (Bogotá, Colombia/Agustiniano Salitre), Ogle and Harrison Jenny came up just shy of EIU’s 1:37.10 with a time of 1:38.55.

Senior Vinnie Zaia (Canton, Mich./Salem) wound up second in the women’s 1000-free with a time of 11:43.91. The men went one-two in this event with both Kirar and Bretl staying under ten minutes and moving further up the Valpo record book. Kirar’s time of 9:55.87 now ranks him third in this event all-time, while Bretl makes his way to fifth with a time of 9:59.63.

Amanda Jenny took care of business in the women’s 200-free touching the wall first in a time of 2:01.92. Sophomore Danielle Richardson (Valparaiso, Ind./Chesterton) clocked a 2:06.51, good for third. On the men’s side, Sogandares took top honors with the fastest time of 1:46.58. Freshman Brett Strongman (Wolverine Lake, Mich./Walled Lake Central) came in fourth with a time of 1:53.40.

Penn stopped the clock first for the men in the 100-back, coming in at 53.38. Senior Grant Girten (Blue Ash, Ohio/Sycamore) made his way into third with a time of 56.41. Lugar led the way for the Crusader women in the event, reaching the wall in third with a time of 1:04.06.

Sophomore Emily Baumgartner (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) had the best time for Valpo, taking third in a close 100-breast race, coming in at 1:13.61. EIU’s Rachel Mandersheid was just ahead in a time of 1:13.06. Acero finished third, as well, for the top Crusader time on the men’s side at 1:01.67.

Valpo freshman Lillia Pogue (Corpus Christi, Texas/Flour Bluff) and Martins went two-three in the 200-fly, touching the wall in 2:20.81 and 2:25.08, respectively. Ogle was the top finisher overall for the men, stopping the clock at 1:57.63, well ahead of Austin Kueck from EIU who came in at 2:02.42.

The shortest race of the day, the 50-free, saw Wright sneak into second with a time of 26.14. Freshman Mariah Sturdivant (Chicago, Ill./George Westinghouse Prep.) grabbed a fourth-place finish in 27.31. Harrison Jenny was the fastest on the men’s side, taking the overall win in 22.08.

Another one-two finish for the Crusaders and a second win for Amanda Jenny came in the 100-free where she out-touched teammate, Wright, by one-hundredth of a second with a time 55.92. The men went two-three-four with Sogandares leading the way in a time of 49.25, Harrison Jenny was next at 50.13, and sophomore Spenser Shaffer (LaPorte, Ind./LaPorte) rounded out the trio in a time of 50.16.

The 200-back saw sophomore Tara Lawson (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) put up the top time for Valpo in 2:17.77, good for a second-place finish. Lugar came in fourth place with a time of 2:18.58. The Crusader men had another two-three-four finish as Penn touched the wall second with a time of 1:58.08. Girten clocked in at 2:05.28, and sophomore Brendon Johnson (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook) was just behind at 2:06.76.

The top finisher for the Valpo women in the 200-breast was Tibbot, coming in at 2:45.46. Sogandares had the fastest Crusader time for the men at 2:20.53, good for third place. Acero was just behind in fourth, touching the wall in 2:21.41.

Zaia brought the waves to a stop first for the Crusader women in the 500-free. She was third overall with a time of 5:42.25. Kirar and Bretl teamed up once again to finish first and second in this race on the men’s side. They recorded times of 4:56.00 and 4:58.47, respectively.

Leading the way for the Valpo women was Martins in the 100-fly with a time of 1:02.65, placing second overall. Richardson grabbed a fourth-place finish, stopping the clock at 1:03.38. The men saw another two-three-four finish, with Ogle coming in at 53.58, Strongman in 57.28, and sophomore Joe North (Germantown, Ohio/Valley View) at 57.61.

The final individual event, the 200-IM, had Pogue runner up in a time of 2:21.87. Acero clocked the fastest time for the Valpo men at 2:06.42 in a third-place finish, while Johnson swam to a fourth-place finish in 2:07.58.

The Crusader women won the 200-free relay, beating out EIU by .16 with a time of 1:43.02. Wright led the team with Lugar, Martins and Amanda Jenny anchoring the victory. The men were edged by .74, compiling a time of 1:28.91 with Sogandares starting things off, then Shaffer, Kirar and Harrison Jenny securing second.

Up next, the Crusaders will take a road trip to Green Bay, Wis. to take on the Phoenix and UIC next Saturday, Oct. 14 at 2 p.m.