The third day of competition brought three more program records for the Valpo men's and women's swimming teams Friday at the Miami Invitational, as Caleb Smesko (Green, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit), Isaac Dinari (Houston, Texas/Memorial) and Audrey Morgan (Villa Park, Ill./Willowbrook) all set new standards for the Beacons.
 
The Record Swims

• The first record swim of the day came from Smesko, as the freshman touched the wall in 49.69 in the prelims of the 100 back, .24 faster than teammate Jackson Oostman's (Aurora, Ill./Marmion Academy) previous standard in the event. He went on to finish eighth in the event with a finals time of 50.17
• Dinari posted his record swim in a time trial in the 50 fly, as his time of 22.91 inched past the previous record by .04.
• Morgan lowered her own record in the 200 free by over a half-second in the evening final in the 200 free, covering the distance in 1:52.31.

 
The Rest of the Action

• On the men's side, three other swims resulted in times which are second-fastest in program history. Evan Curran (Golden, Colo./Golden) improved upon his second-best time in the 200 free with a prelim time of 1:40.05.
• Carson Parker (Silver Lake, Ind./Tippecanoe Valley) swam a 56.07 in the prelims of the 100 breast to move up the chart in that event to second place. Parker just missed besting that time in the finals, swimming a 56.08.
• Smesko improved his second-best time in program history in the 50 back with a 23.24 opening split in the night-closing 200 medley relay. Smesko combined with Ben Mettler (Sussex, Wis./Hamilton), Garrett Hoppman (Midland, Texas/Midland) and Curran to cover that relay in 1:32.19, third-fastest in program history.
• Two of Valpo's men's 200 medley relay cracked the program's all-time best Friday, as the quartet of Oostman, Parker, Timothy Mai (St. Johns, Fla./Creekside) and Luke Snider (Germantown, Tenn./Memphis University School) finished in 1:33.09, good for sixth in program history.
• In that same event, two other leadoff swimmers posted 50 back times among the best in program history. Dustyn Starkey (New Carlisle, Ind./New Prairie) swam a 24.24 opening split to move into sixth in the 50 back, while Connor Benoit (Sussex, Wis./Hamilton) covered his 50 back in 24.63, ninth-fastest in program history.
• The 100 fly prelims featured three of the top-10 times in program history. Hoppman moved up into a tie for third with a time of 50.24, Asa Sadowsky (Green Bay, Wis./Bay Port [Milwaukee]) now ranks tied for fifth with a time of 50.31 and Dinari moved into ninth with a time of 51.13. Hoppman led the Valpo contingent in the final, touching the wall in 50.35.
• Oostman was the Beacons' top swimmer in the 400 IM, covering the distance in 4:02.37 in the event final.
• Curran's prelim swim in the 200 free was followed closely by Anthony Martin (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett), who improved upon his third-fastest time with a 1:41.19, and Gabe Corkran (Avondale Estates, Ga./Druid Hills), who moved into fourth with a 1:41.35. Curran posted the team's top time in the final, coming home in 1:40.25, while Martin again improved his PR with a finals time of 1:41.09.
• Following Parker in the 100 breast prelims was Gabe Vasquez (Houston, Texas/Memorial), who now ranks fifth with his time of 56.62, and Mettler, who cracked the program's top-10 with a time of 57.23 before lowering that to 56.74 in the event final to move up to sixth position.
• Starkey entered the 100 back Friday already fifth-fastest in program history, but improved his time in the event twice, posting a 51.34 in the prelims and a 51.28 in the finals.
• Benoit touched the wall in 23.76 in the 50 fly time trial, 10^th-fastest in program history.
• Benoit's older sister, Kailyn Benoit (Sussex, Wis./Hamilton) lowered her PR in the 100 fly twice on Friday, improving upon her fourth-fastest time with a prelim swim of 58.66 and a finals swim of 58.28.
• Three Beacon women posted top-10 times in the 400 IM prelims — Majo Suarez de la Fuente (Mexico City, Mexico/ITESM Campus Santa Fe [Bethel]) moved up to fourth with her time of 4:40.51, while Olivia Tressler (Las Vegas, Nev./Desert Oasis) and Ally Unruh (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) maintained their spots in sixth and eighth in program history, respectively, with times of 4:41.45 and 4:42.86. Suarez de la Fuente paced the Valpo swimmers in the final with a time of 4:42.49.
• Natalie Eaton (Tulsa, Okla./Jenks) led the Beacon women in the 100 breast, swimming a finals time of 1:07.38, while Brianne Flikkema (Bowling Green, Ky./Greenwood) moved into ninth in Valpo history in the event with her prelim time of 1:07.54.
• Sophie Schoch (Medina, Ohio/Medina) paced Valpo in the 100 back with a finals time of 58.42, improving upon her fourth-fastest time in event history. In the prelims, Bri Keese (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) moved into 10^th in the same event with a time of 59.26.
• Keese also moved up to fourth in program history in the 50 free, touching the wall in 24.10 in a time trial swim.
• Valpo's women closed the day with the seventh-fastest 200 medley relay all-time, as Schoch, Eaton, Faith Bargwell (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rockford) and Una Dizdarevic (Bloomingdale, Ill./Lake Park) combined for a time of 1:48.69.
• The men sit in fifth place after the third of four days of competition, while the women are in seventh place.

 
Next Up
Valpo closes the Miami Invitational, and with it its fall semester competition, on Saturday with another full day of action from Oxford, Ohio.