Friday, February 17, 2006

Valparaiso moved up into sixth place Friday at the Mid-Continent Conference Championships in Indianapolis, Ind., with one day left in the meet.

Leah Schneider (Sussex, Wis./Arrowhead H.S.) recorded the best finish by a Crusader on the day, coming home sixth in the 100 butterfly in 1:01.19. Rachel Korellis (Champaign, Ill./Centennial H.S.) finished 11th in the same event with a time of 1:02.41.

Shannon McDonald (Crown Point, Ind./Marian Catholic H.S.) touched the wall seventh in the 400 individual medley. Her time of 4:51.51 moved her into fifth on Valpo's all-time record book in the event.

Katy Eelma (Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington North H.S.) registered the fifth-best time in Valpo history in the 100 backstroke, swimming a 1:02.58 during preliminary action Friday morning. Eelma finished tenth in the finals of the event.

Amanda Gregory (Carmel, Ind./Carmel H.S.) posted the only other top-ten by a Valpo swimmer on the day, notching a seventh-place finish in the 200 free with a time of 1:59.06. Gregory also led off the 800 free relay squad, and along with Eelma, Schneider, and Katie Jajtner (Port Washington, Wis./Port Washington H.S.), finished fifth.

The Crusaders sit in sixth place at the championships after two out of three days of competition, having tallied 183 points. Oakland leads the team scoring with 643 points.

Valparaiso returns to the pool Saturday, February 18, for the final day of action at the championships. The morning session begins at 9 a.m.