Friday, December 01, 2006

A new school record was set as Valparaiso finished day one at the House of Champions Invitational on Friday evening in fourth place out of six teams in Indianapolis, Ind.

The Crusaders tallied 111 points on the opening day, three more than fifth place Eastern Illinois. Ball State leads the meet with 318 points.

Valpo got off to a solid start in the day's first event, the 200 freestyle relay. The team of Rachel Majercik (Schaumburg, Ill./Conant H.S.), Jaclyn Krause (Rochester, Mich./Notre Dame Prep H.S.), Amanda Gregory (Carmel, Ind./Carmel H.S.), and Kati Smethurst (Grand Ledge, Mich./Grand Ledge H.S.) touched the wall in 1:38.38, shattering the old mark set in 2005 by more than a second. The team was less than a half of a second off the pace.

Majercik turned in the Crusaders' highest individual finish on the day, placing seventh in the 50 freestyle. The freshman's time of 25.04 seconds is tied for the seventh fastest time in school history.

Krause finished eighth while Elizabeth Thompson (Norman, Okla./Norman H.S.) was 10th in the 500 free. Thompson finished in 5:18.08, the fifth fastest mark in Valpo history while Thompson touched in 5:21.32, 10th best in school laurels.

In the other individual events on the first day, Anna Orwick (Broadlands, Ill./Champaign Centennial H.S.) placed eighth on the one-meter diving board with a score of 174.85. Katie Jajtner (Port Washington, Wis./Port Washington H.S.) was Valpo's top finisher in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:20.08.

Valpo finished the day with a sixth place finish in the 400 medley relay.

The Crusaders will conclude competition at the event on Saturday morning beginning at 9 a.m. CST.