The Valpo men's and women's swimming teams completed their final meet prior to conference championship action on Friday evening at the Valparaiso Aquatic Center, hosting UIC in a dual meet. Carson Parker (Silver Lake, Ind./Tippecanoe Valley) earned an individual event win in the 50 free, while a pair of Beacon women moved up the program's top-10 charts.
 
How It Happened

• On the women's side, Courtney Ledbetter (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland [Notre Dame College]) and Sara Strauss (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake) posted top-10 times in program history Friday. Strauss moved up to third in program history with a second-place finish in the 200 breast, touching the wall in 2:24.35, while Ledbetter cracked the top-10 chart in the 50 free, placing second with a time of 24.59 to move into a tie for ninth.
• Strauss also paced the Beacons Friday in the 200 free (1:59.53) and the 200 IM (2:15.96), while Ledbetter also led the way for Valpo in the 100 free (54.10).
• Three other Valpo women led the team in two individual events apiece. Ally Unruh (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) was the Beacons' top swimmer in the distance events, covering the 1000 free in 11:11.28 and the 500 free in 5:26.03.
• Sophie Schoch (Medina, Ohio/Medina) placed second in the 200 back with a time of 2:11.12 and also paced Valpo in the 100 back (1:00.05).
• Kailyn Benoit (Sussex, Wis./Hamilton) led the way for Valpo in the fly events, posting times of 1:02.08 in the 100 fly and 2:14.64 in the 200 fly.
• On the men's side, Parker swam a season-best time of 21.86 in the 50 free to claim top honors by two-tenths of a second.
• Garrett Hoppman (Midland, Texas/Midland) took second place in the 200 fly with a time of 1:57.71 and also paced the Beacons in the 100 fly with a time of 51.69.
• Jackson Oostman (Aurora, Ill./Marmion Academy) led the Valpo contingent in a trio of individual events — the 100 back (53.21), the 200 back (2:01.00) and the 200 IM (2:01.76).
• Nate Bolinger (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) was the Beacons' top swimmers in the 100 free (49.42) and the 200 free (1:47.77).
• UIC earned a 195-67 win on the men's side and a 209.5-52.5 win on the women's side.

 
Next Up
The men's and women's squads split up for their respective Missouri Valley Conference Championships to close out the 2024-25 campaign. The men head to Oxford, Ohio for the MVC meet Feb. 19-22, while the women will go to Waukee, Iowa Feb. 26-March 1.