Friday, December 04, 2009

Justine Barnes (Rochester Hills, Mich./Adams H.S.) and Rachel Majercik (Schaumburg, Ill./Conant H.S.) each posted marks that move them onto the top-10 all-time list at Valparaiso helping to lead the Crusaders into eighth place after day two of the Calvin Winter Invitational held in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Barnes, a freshman, turned in the sixth fastest time in school history in the 200 butterfly, touching the wall in 2:14.28 to finish 13th overall in the race.

Majercik, a senior, moved into eighth place on the all-time list in the 200 freestyle posting a mark of 1;57.62 in the morning prelims.  She then finished 16th overall in the finals to lead the Brown and Gold in the race.

In the morning session, besides the preliminary heats in the individual events, the final of the 400 medley relay was held.  Valpo finished 15th overall as the team of Karen Berg (Glendale, Ariz./Deer Valley H.S.), Amy Andracki (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect H.S.), Barnes, and Erin Owen (Mazeppa, Minn./Zumbrota-Mazeppa H.S.) turned in a time of 4:17.77.

The Crusaders then began the night session with a 12th place finish in the 200 free relay.  Majercik, Laura Rickey (Monmouth, Ill./Monmouth-Roseville H.S.), Owen, and Kristy Shew (Terre Haute, Ind./North Vigo H.S.) posted a mark of 1:43.62.

Freshman Sarah Robertson (Crawfordsville, Ind./Crawfordsville H.S.) turned in Valpo’s highest individual finish of the day, placing 11th in the 400 individual medley, touching the wall in 4:58.54.  Andracki led the Crusaders in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:09.98 while Berg had the best 100 backstroke time finishing in 1:05.34.

As a team, the Crusaders have tallied 49 points through two days of the three-day competition, just three points behind seventh place Northern Michigan.  Grand Valley State leads the meet with 650 points heading into Saturday.

Valpo will return to the water on Saturday morning for the final day of competition with prelims beginning at 9 a.m. CST while finals are slated for 5 p.m. CST.