The Valpo men's and women's swimming teams kicked off the month of November in the Valparaiso Aquatic Center Friday evening, as the men faced off with Lewis in a dual meet and the women took on both Butler and Lewis.
 
How It Happened

• The Beacon women ended the meet on a high note, taking first place in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:40.98. The quartet of senior Courtney Ledbetter (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland [Notre Dame College]), senior Sara Strauss (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake), sophomore Bri Keese (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) and sophomore Faith Bargwell (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rockford) combined to post the winning time.
• Ledbetter and Bargwell also tied for the women's best individual finish on Friday. Ledbetter placed third with a time of 27.79 in the 50 fly, while Bargwell posted a time of 25.54 in the 50 free for her third-place finish.
• Three other Valpo women had third-place individual finishes as well: freshman Ally Unruh (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) with a time of 10:54.44 in the 1000 free, sophomore Sophie Schoch (Medina, Ohio/Medina) with a time of 28.88 in the 50 back and sophomore Olivia Tressler (Las Vegas, Nev./Desert Oasis) with a time of 2:18.98 in the 200 IM.
• A pair of Valpo men's swimmers posted individual event wins on Friday. Sophomore Nate Bolinger (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) took top honors in the 200 free with a time of 1:46.40, while junior Anthony Martin (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) came home first in the 100 free with a time of 48.25.
• Four Beacon men recorded second-place individual finishes: senior Brendan Stangeland (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne) with a time of 27.50 in the 50 back, junior Tim Mai (St. Johns, Fla./Creekside) with a time of 53.64 in the 100 fly, freshman Carson Parker (Silver Lake, Ind./Tippecanoe Valley) with a time of 1:01.78 in the 100 breast and junior Matthew Mantz (Spokane, Wash./Mead) with a time of 4:56.13 in the 500 free.
• The men fell to Lewis, 176-86, while the women lost to Butler (178-81) and Lewis (148-114).

 
Next Up
Valpo returns to the pool with its major midseason meet later this month, as the Beacons head to the Magnus Cup hosted by Cleveland State Nov. 21-23.