Saturday, December 01, 2012

Valparaiso’s men’s swimming team had six performances crack its all-time top-five on Saturday as the Crusaders closed out action at the Calvin Winter Invitational in Grand Rapids, Mich., finishing in sixth place.

The Crusaders totaled 215 points over the three-day meet to finish in sixth place out of the ten competing teams.  Grand Valley State took the team title with 943 points.

The top-ranking performance in Valpo history came from sophomore Matt King (Clinton, Ill./Clinton) on Saturday, as he swam a time of 1:56.02 in the prelims of the 200 backstroke, third-fastest all-time at Valpo.  King would finish eighth in the event final.

Freshman Frederick Jenny (New Albany, Ohio/New Albany) swam a prelim time of 4:46.21 in the 500 free, fourth-fastest in Crusader history, and eventually placed 13^th in the consolation final.  Jenny also qualified for the consolation final in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:12.04, fifth-fastest all-time at Valpo, and finished in 15^th place in the final.

Freshman Gonzalo Castro Diaz (Mexico City, Mexico) swam as an exhibition swimmer in the prelims of the 200 individual medley and posted the fourth-fastest time in Crusader history, touching the wall in 1:58.44, which would have qualified him for the event final.  Castro Diaz also swam a prelim time of 52.37 seconds in the 100 butterfly and placed 12^th in the consolation final.  Sophomore Kyle Braun (McHenry, Ill./West) moved into Valpo’s all-time top-10 in the 100 free with a time of 47.87 seconds, good for a 12^th place finish in the consolation final.

Valpo’s 200 medley relay squad of King, Jenny, Castro Diaz and Braun posted the third-fastest time in Crusader history, touching the wall in 1:36.50, good for eighth place.  The same quartet combined on the 400 free relay team for a ninth-place finish with a time of 3:12.80.

Valparaiso returns to the pool at the ARC for the first time this season next Saturday as the Crusaders host Green Bay in dual meet action.  The first event is slated for a 2 p.m. start.