Valparaiso opened its swim season on Friday evening with a 6th place finish at the Dennis Stark Relays in Notre Dame, Ind.

The Crusaders finished with 50 points in the eight team meet, four more than seventh place Cleveland State. Valpo also finished ahead of Marquette. Notre Dame was crowned the champion with 240 points.

Valpo's 400 backstroke relay earned the team's highest finish on the evening, placing fifth. The team of Heather Dueball (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West H.S.), Shannon McDonald (Crown Point, Ind./Marian Catholic H.S.), Patricia Kloth (Medford, Wis./Medford Area H.S.), and Katie Jajtner (Port Washington, Wis./Port Washington H.S.) finished in a time of 4:37.73.

The Brown and Gold will return to the pool to open the dual meet portion of the schedule on October 21 as the Crusaders head to Cincinnati, Ohio to face Xavier in a 2 p.m. CDT meet.