Saturday, October 13, 2007

            Valparaiso won 10 of 12 events on the afternoon as the Crusaders opened the 2007-2008 dual meet season on Saturday afternoon with a convincing 155-81 victory over Horizon League foe Cleveland State in Cleveland, Ohio.

             “We won a lot of events and did some good things for this early in the season,” commented head coach Bryan Morrison following the meet.

             The Crusaders opened the meet with a victory in the 400 medley relay as Shaunna Dandremond (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino H.S.), Amy Andracki (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect H.S.), Rachel Majercik (Schaumburg, Ill./Conant H.S.) and Jaclyn Krause (Rochester, Mich./Notre Dame Prep H.S.) cruised to a time of 4:06.66, the fifth fastest time in school history.  The team won by more than five seconds.

             Grace Arnold (Glendora, Calif./Glendora H.S.) turned in the fourth fastest 1000 freestyle time in school history in her first collegiate dual meet on her way to a victory in a time of 10:57.11, edging out the Vikings by .16 seconds.

             Krause made it three straight Valpo wins in the 200 free with her time of 2:03.38 as the Brown and Gold took home the top three spots in the event.  Majercik continued the Crusaders winning ways in the 50 free with a time of 25.06 seconds before Arnold won her second race of the day, the 200 individual medley in a time of 2:18.13  

            Anna Orwick (Broadlands, Ill./Champaign H.S.) earned the victory on the one-meter diving board for the Crusaders with her score of 196.30.

             Elizabeth Thompson (Norman, Okla./Norman North H.S.) added a victory in the 200 butterfly by nearly four seconds with a time of 2:15.17 while Majercik followed with a win in the 100 free in 54.51 seconds, giving Valpo event wins in the first nine events.

             Arnold finished her day with her third victory in the 500 free with a time of 5:22.73 before Andracki earned a win in the 200 breaststroke by more than three seconds with a time of 2:34.62, ranking in a tie for seventh all-time at Valpo.

             “We had some lifetime bests in our first dual of the season,” added Morrison.  “Hopefully this leads to more things to come.”

             Valparaiso (1-0) will dive back in the pool next Saturday evening in Cincinnati, Ohio as the Crusaders face Xavier in a 5 p.m. CDT meet.