A day full of performances among the best in program history in their respective events was capped by a pair of school-record swims from junior Jackson Oostman (Aurora, Ill./Marmion Academy), as the Valpo men's and women's swimming teams competed on the first of three days of action at the Magnus Cup in Cleveland.
 
How It Happened – Valpo Men

• Oostman's first record of the day came in the finals of the 200 IM. After qualifying for the evening session with a morning time of 1:52.94, just .37 off his own school record, Oostman sliced just over a tenth of a second off his previous best in the evening to set a new standard at 1:52.46 — good for 13^th place, Valpo's top individual finish of the day.
• Oostman followed that up by lowering another of his school records as he led off the Beacons' 400 medley relay. The junior covered his 100 back leg in 50.40, .16 better than his previous record in the event.
• Oostman's performance in the relay paved the way for the quartet — which also included junior Luke Snider (Germantown, Tenn./Memphis University School), junior Garrett Hoppman (Midland, Texas/Midland) and junior Anthony Martin (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) — to post a time of 3:24.75, fourth-fastest in program history.
• Notably, two Beacon relay quartets cracked the program's top-10 chart in the 400 medley relay. A second Valpo squad, featuring junior Jeremy Suarez (Romeoville, Ill./Plainfield East), senior Brendan Stangeland (West Fargo, N.D./Sheyenne), junior Tim Mai (St. Johns, Fla./Creekside) and freshman Will Schenk (Tulsa, Okla./Holland Hall) covered the 400 yards in 3:27.90, good for 10^th in program history.
• Oostman nearly found a new top-10 chart to move onto, as his leadoff leg of 21.54 in the 200 free relay was just .05 shy of Valpo's all-time best in the 50 free. The junior combined with Snider, Stangeland and Martin to post a time of 1:24.89 in the relay, 10^th-fastest in program history.
• Snider almost had a school record of his own on Thursday. The junior posted a prelim time of 26.38 to move up into second place in program history in the 50 breast, and then in the evening's finals, lowered his time to 26.20 — just .03 off of the program record.
• In all, four Valpo men posted times in the 50 breast that rank among the top-10 in program history. Stangeland jumped to third on the Beacons' all-time chart with a prelim time of 26.42, sophomore Ian Muffett (Zillah, Wash./Zillah) improved upon his PR with a prelim time of 26.76 — good for seventh in program history — and freshman Carson Parker (Silver Lake, Ind./Tippecanoe Valley) moved into ninth all-time at Valpo with a prelim time of 27.09. Stangeland and Muffett's prelim times qualified them for Thursday evening's finals as well.
• Senior Andrew Berzai (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) joined Oostman with a strong prelim swim in the 200 IM to qualify for the evening finals. The senior, who ranks fourth in program history in the event, was just over a half-second off his PR as he recorded a time of 1:55.51.
• Mai qualified for the evening finals in the 500 free with a team-best prelim swim of 4:44.34, while Martin paced the men in the 50 free prelims with a time of 21.67.
• The men closed day one of action in eighth place out of 10 competing teams, tallying 66 points.

 
How It Happened – Valpo Women

• Both of the Beacons' evening relays were among the top-four times in their respective events in program history. In the evening-closing 400 medley relay, the Valpo quartet of sophomore Sophie Schoch (Medina, Ohio/Medina), senior Sara Strauss (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake), sophomore Kailyn Benoit (Sussex, Wis./Hamilton) and senior Courtney Ledbetter (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland [Notre Dame College]) posted a time of 3:57.73, moving into third all-time at Valpo.
• Schoch's 100 back opening leg in the aforementioned relay was a PR of 58.90, moving her up into fifth place in program history in that event.
• The 200 free relay which opened the evening session moved into fourth in program history, coming home in 1:37.83. Ledbetter and Strauss were part of that relay as well, joined by sophomore Bri Keese (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) and sophomore Faith Bargwell (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rockford).
• The women's top individual performance of the day came from Strauss, with a pair of strong swims in the 50 breast. The senior touched the wall in 30.99 in the morning prelims, moving up to fourth place all-time at Valpo, and then jumped two more spots to second all-time in the evening finals with a time of 30.69.
• Strauss was joined by sophomore Roxanne Adams (Aguadilla, Puerto Rico) and junior Natalie Eaton (Tulsa, Okla./Jenks) in qualifying from the prelims into the finals of the 50 breast.
• Swimming a time trial, Benoit posted a time of 2:09.90 in the 200 back, good for sixth in program history.
• Ledbetter was just five-hundredths of a second from cracking Valpo's all-time best in the 50 free with her team-best prelim time of 24.66.
• Freshman Ally Unruh (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) paced the Beacon contingent in the prelims of the 500 free with a time of 5:13.41, while fellow freshman Sam Smith (Manhattan, Ill./Rosary) led Valpo in the prelims of the 200 IM with a time of 2:16.56.
• Valpo closed the day in 12^th place in the team standings.

 
Next Up
Valpo continues the three-day meet with the second day of action on Friday. Prelim swims start at 8 a.m. CT, while finals start at 5 p.m. CT.