The Valpo men's and women's swimming teams kicked off their 2026-27 season Friday evening at Hobart H.S. in a dual meet against Southern Indiana, racking up seven event victories and a pair of record book swims in the season opener.
 
How It Happened

• Competing in his first collegiate meet, Griffin Schilz (Suamico, Wis./Bay Port) debuted with a bang, as his first swim was a winning time of 9:48.32 in the 1000 free — already moving him into fourth place in program history in the event. Schilz went on to also capture the 500 free later in the meet with a time of 4:43.78.
• Schilz was one of two rookies to win a pair of events for the Beacons, as Brian Bosse (Bowling Green, Ky./South Warren) dominated the sprints. Bosse opened with a winning swim of 21.37 in the 50 free, just four-hundredths of a second outside the program's top-10, and followed by touching the wall first in 47.17 in the 100 free.
• After earning the win in the 200 free early in the meet with a time of 1:43.23, Evan Curran (Golden, Colo./Golden) completed a 1-2 finish for Valpo in the 100 free, coming home in 47.52.
• Ben Mettler (Sussex, Wis./Hamilton) moved into fifth place in program history in the 50 fly with a team-best time of 23.17 and also paced Valpo in the 50 breast, placing second with a time of 26.46.
• Caleb Smesko (Green, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) earned a place of runner-up finishes with team-best times of 24.14 in the 50 back and 51.87 in the 100 back, while Gabe Vasquez (Houston, Texas/Memorial) led Valpo and finished second in the 200 IM with a time of 2:00.22.
• The Valpo men fell by a final score of 152-110 in the dual meet to USI.
• Faith Bargwell (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rockford) earned an individual event win on the women's side, touching the wall first in the 50 fly with a time of 27.68. She also swam the second leg of the Beacons' winning 200 free relay, combining with Gabi Peterman (Mattawan, Mich./Mattawan), Una Dizdarevic (Bloomingdale, Ill./Lake Park) and Audrey Morgan (Villa Park, Ill./Willowbrook) to post a time of 1:38.76.
• Swimming in her first collegiate meet, Ashlynn Taylor (Skiatook, Okla./Bartlesville) led Valpo in a trio of events. She had runner-up finishes in the 50 breast (31.65) and the 100 breast (1:08.47), while her 200 IM time of 2:14.14 was just one-tenth of a second away from cracking the program's top-10 chart in the event.
• Ally Unruh (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) led Valpo by placing second in both the 1000 free (10:55.44) and the 500 free (5:21.45), while Mia Ceballos (Joliet, Ill./Plainfield North) had team-best swims in both the 50 back (28.71) and the 100 back (1:01.26).
• Three other Beacons had second-place finishes as well: Morgan in the 200 free (1:57.75), Dizdarevic in the 100 free (54.96) and Bri Keese (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) in the 50 free (24.82).
• The women fell by a 169-93 score to the Screaming Eagles.

 
Next Up
Valpo returns to competition next Saturday, Oct. 17, traveling to take on a fellow MVC program in Evansville.