Saturday, February 22, 2003

The Valparaiso men's swim team saw their 2002-2003 season come to a close on Saturday evening on the final day of competition at the Midwest Classic Championships held in Indianapolis, Ind. The Crusaders finished the meet in fifth place.

Western Illinois took home the team championship with 818 points, followed by Eastern Michigan, which tallied 693 points. IUPUI was third (546.5), followed by Eastern Illinois (489.5). Valpo tallied 306 points, while Vincennes placed sixth with 153 points.

In the first event on the final day, Neal Badgett (Houston, Texas/Strake Jesuit Prep) was Valpo's lone competitor in the mile. The junior finished in 12th place with a time of 17:18.87, the fourth fastest in school history.

The 200 backstroke saw Mark Volberding (Tulsa, Okla./Union H.S.) post a tenth place finish with a time of 2:06.58.

In the 100 freestyle, Bob Schmidt (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville H.S.) placed seventh with a time of 47.77 seconds. Teammate Sean Conrin (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Buffalo Grove H.S.) also scored for the Brown and Gold, finishing 12th in 48.56 seconds.

Mike Hermes (Hudson, Ill./U-High) earned an eighth place finish in the 200 breaststroke as he touched the wall in 2:14.56. Jeff Ewers (Huntertown, Ind./Carroll H.S.) was 12th with a mark of 2:16.23, while Patrick Kirby (Danville, Ill./Schlarman H.S.) finished in 16th place.

The final individual event of the meet was the 200 butterfly. Badgett, who qualified for the finals, placed eighth with a time of 2:03.17. Teammate Bob Pedersen (Urbana, Ill./Urbana H.S.) won the B finals to earn a ninth place finish overall with a time of 2:00.93, the second fastest mark in school history. Alan Regetz (Sugar Land, Texas/Lamar Consolidated H.S.) placed 12th in the event with a time of 2:09.85.

The final event of the meet saw the Crusaders 400 free relay place fifth with the third fastest time all-time at Valpo. The team of Conrin, Schmidt, Pedersen, and Edward Chester (Mishawaka, Ind./Mishawaka H.S.) touched the wall in 3:11.80.