The Valparaiso University men’s and women’s swimming teams each had a record-setting swim lead the way in day three of conference championship competition on Friday. The men’s team performance at the Summit  League Championships  presented by U.S. Air Force Special Operations was led by a school-record time in the 200 free from freshman Dominic May (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central). Not to be outdone, on the women’s side at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships, fellow freshman Isabel Jenny (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) lowered the program record in the 100 backstroke for the third time this season.

Men- Summit League Championships

• May continued a phenomenal freshman campaign by breaking the program record in the 200 free with a prelim time of 1:40.90 Friday morning, surpassing the previous record of 1:41.37 set in 2009. He would finish in 10th place in the event finals with a time of 1:41.65.
• The 400 medley relay team of freshman Derek Eidson (Ventura, Calif./Ventura), freshman Billy Bennett (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville), sophomore Brett Strongman (Wolverine Lake, Mich./Walled Lake Central), and Senior Mac Sogandares (Reston Va,/South Lakes) started the day off well, finishing with a time of 3:28.16. That time is good for the fourth-best time in program history.
• Senior Dylan Kirar (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley) placed ninth in the 400 IM with a time of 4:08.13, while junior Brendon Johnson (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) finished 15th in the same event, touching the wall in 4:13.11 in the finals.
• Bennett would improve upon his third-best time in program history in the 100 breaststroke with a prelim time of 57.15, and placed 13th in the finals with a time of 58.11.
• Eidson would touch the wall in the 100 backstroke with a time of 52.00 for a 13th-place finish. His finals time improved slightly upon his prelim time of 52.12, which catapulted him to third in the program record book in the event.
• The Valpo men currently sit at sixth place in the standings.

Women- Missouri Valley Conference Championships

• Jenny, who entered the MVC Championships having already lowered the program record in the 100 back twice during her rookie year, made it three record swims this season, finishing 14th in the event with a time of 57.45.
• Junior Erica Martins (Hartland, Wisc./Lake County Lutheran) moved into second place in the program record books in the 100 butterfly with a prelim time of 57.76. She just missed lowering her own record Friday evening in the finals, placing 19th with a time of 57.82.
• Junior Paige Wright (Surprise, Ariz./Paradise Honors) made a pair of finals appearances on Friday, finishing 20th in the 200 free (1:57.17) and 23rd in the 100 back (59.44).
• Junior Tara Lawson (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) finished the 400 individual medley in 4:50.17, good for a 21st-place finish.
• Finally, the 400 medley relay team of Jenny, junior Emily Baumgartner (Fishers, Ind./Fishers), Martins and Wright moved themselves into third place in Valpo swimming history with a time of 3:58.94, touching the wall in seventh place.
• The Valpo women currently sit in eighth place in the standings.

Up Next

Both teams conclude their respective conference championships with the fourth and final day of competition on Saturday, February 23.