Saturday, February 27, 2010

Valparaiso wrapped up the 2009-2010 season on Saturday with the final day of competition at the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships held at Flames Natatorium in Chicago, Ill.

The Crusaders finished the meet in eight place with 109 points, just seven points behind Butler.  Green Bay was crowned team champion with 804 points with Milwaukee the runner-up with 713 points.  Wright State (694.5) finished third followed by UIC (574), Cleveland State (368), and Youngstown State (259.5).

Shaunna Dangramond (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino H.S.) posted Valpo’s highest finish of the meet in the 200 backstroke, finishing with a time of 2:12.26 to place 10th in the event.  Karen Berg (Glendale, Ariz./Deer Valley H.S.) also scored in the 200 back, finishing 15th with a time of 2:19.01.

Justine Barnes (Rochester Hills, Mich./Adams H.S.) posted the second best 200 butterfly time in school history on Saturday, finishing 13th with a time of 2:11.63.  She was 2.60 seconds shy of the Valpo school record.

Rachel Majercik (Schaumburg, Ill./Conant H.S.) scored a 16th place finish for the Brown and Gold in the 100 freestyle with a time of 53.86 second after posting a time of 53.77 in the morning preliminary heats.

Valpo closed the meet with an eighth place finish in the 400 free relay.  Kristy Shew (Terre Haute, Ind./North Vigo H.S.), Jenny Nam (Orange, Calif./Lutheran H.S. of Orange County), Berg, and Amy Young (Blue Bell, Pa./LaPorte H.S. [Ind.]) posted a time of 3:51.63.

The final day began with the mile, and Stephanie Ferschl (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago H.S.) turned in the team’s best time with a mark of 19:04.65.  Amy Andracki (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect H.S.) added the team’s top time in the 200 breaststroke in the prelims as well, touching the wall in 2:32.67.