It might have been the lightest day of competition at the MVC Championships in Oxford, Ohio, but the Valpo men's swimming team wasted no time rewriting the program's record book Wednesday, as three individuals combined to break four program records and Jackson Oostman (Aurora, Ill./Marmion Academy) posted a qualifying time for the CSCAA National Invitational Championship (NIC) to open the conference championship meet.
 
How It Happened

• Valpo took advantage of time trial swims midday on Wednesday to lower three program standards, highlighted by Oostman's swim in the 100 IM. The junior posted a time of 51.45, besting his own previous school record by nine-hundredths of a second. The time also came in under the automatic qualifying time of 51.55 for the NIC — a postseason championship event for Division I swimmers and divers that have achieved B/Zone standards, but are not selected for the NCAA Division I Championships.
• Andrew Berzai (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) broke the program record in the 200 breast during the time trial swims, posting a time of 2:03.50 — lowering his PR by nearly two seconds and surpassing the previous record by a quarter of a second.
• In somewhat unconventional fashion, Luke Snider (Germantown, Tenn./Memphis University School) set a new standard in the 50 breast not while racing a 50 breast, but in the front half of a 100 breast swim. Snider touched the wall at the 50-yard mark in 26.09, breaking the previous program record by eight-hundredths of a second. He completed the 100 in 56.34, moving up to second in program history in the event.
• Oostman posted his second record of the day as he led off Valpo's 200 medley relay in the evening session, covering his 50 back leg in 23.18 as he smashed the previous mark by better than three-tenths of a second. Oostman was followed by Snider, Garrett Hoppman (Midland, Texas/Midland) and Carson Parker (Silver Lake, Ind./Tippecanoe Valley) as the quartet posted a time of 1:31.69, second-fastest in program history.
• The Beacons closed the night with the third-fastest 800 free relay in program history, as Anthony Martin (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett), Nate Bolinger (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield), Tristan Haver (League City, Texas/Lutheran South Academy) and Tim Mai (St. Johns, Fla./Creekside) covered the distance in 6:52.14.
• Earlier in the day, Martin matched his PR in the 100 free with a time trial swim of 46.43, a time which ranks fifth-fastest in program history.
• The Beacons completed the opening day of the championship meet with 50 points, finishing the day ahead of Evansville in the team standings.

 
Next Up
Valpo takes to the pool for the second day of competition on Thursday. Prelim swims are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. CT, with finals swims starting at 4 p.m. CT.