Friday, February 18, 2005

Ashley Seale (Maryville, Tenn./Maryville H.S.) set a new school record on Friday, but Valparaiso slipped back two positions into fifth place after the middle day at the House of Champions Invitational held in Indianapolis, Ind.

Seale finished third in the 100 butterfly with a time of 59.49 seconds. She set the new school mark earlier in the day in the preliminaries with a time of 59.09 seconds, bettering Kristy Kunard's 1996 mark of 59.11 seconds. Leah Schneider (Sussex, Wis./Arrowhead H.S.) finished eighth in the same event with a time of 1:00.80, while Daniella Trombatore (Redding, Calif./Shasta H.S.) was 13th with a time of 1:02.01.

Valpo opened day two with a fourth place finish in the 200 medley relay. Lauren Bambach (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman H.S.), Allison Clark (Shorewood, Wis./Shorewood H.S.), Seale, and Amanda Gregory (Carmel, Ind./Carmel H.S.) finished with a time of 1:52.74.

Clark then came back one event later and earned a fourth place finish in the 400 individual medley. The sophomore touched the wall in 4:43.78.

Gregory also earned a fourth place finish on the afternoon for the Crusaders. Her time of 1:57.54 led a trio of scorers for the Brown and Gold in the event. Britt Nelson (Cortland, N.Y./Homer H.S.) was tenth with a time of 1:59.14, while Trombatore was 15th finishing in 2:02.81.

Seale also finished seventh in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:11.18. Shannon McDonald (Crown Point, Ind./Marian Catholic H.S.) finished 15th in the same event, touching the wall in 1:13.19.

The last individual event of the day saw Bambach finish sixth in the 100 backstroke. The junior finished in 1:02.62, while teammate Katie Jajtner (Port Washington, Wis./Port Washington H.S.) was 11th with a time of 1:03.26. Cassidy Kuhlmann (Mount Prospect, Ill./Hersey H.S.) was 15th, finishing in 1:05.59.

Andi Ticknor (North Vernon, Ind./Jennings County H.S.) was Valpo's top one-meter diver on the day, placing 17th with a score of 141.55.

Valpo finished the day with a fifth place effort in the 800 free relay. Seale, Nelson, Clark, and Gregory finished with a time of 8:03.80.

Valpo will conclude its 2004-2005 season on Saturday, the final day of the invitational. Preliminary heats will begin at 9 a.m. CST with finals slated for 5 p.m.