The Valpo men's and women's swimming teams completed their final meet before heading to the MVC Championships, traveling to the Butler Invitational in Fishers, Ind. Sunday.
 
How It Happened

• Five Valpo women won one event apiece on Sunday, highlighted by Natalie Eaton (Tulsa, Okla./Jenks) taking top honors in the 200 breast with a time of 2:25.52 to improve upon her sixth-fastest time in program history.
• Eaton's swim led a Valpo sweep of the top three spots in the 200 breast, something the Beacon women did in three events — Bri Keese (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) touched the wall first in the 50 free (24.84) to lead a 1-2-3 Valpo finish, while Ally Unruh (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) did the same in the 500 free with a winning time of 5:15.73.
• Valpo's other event victories came from Kailyn Benoit (Sussex, Wis./Hamilton), who earned her win in the 200 fly with a time of 2:10.73, and Una Dizdarevic (Bloomingdale, Ill./Lake Park), who came home in front in the 100 free with a time of 54.37.
• A trio of Beacons led the team in a pair of individual events Sunday. In addition to their event wins, Eaton paced the squad in the 100 breast (1:07.80) and Benoit led Valpo in the 100 fly (1:00.73), while Audrey Morgan (Villa Park, Ill./Willowbrook) was Valpo's fastest in the 200 free (1:55.64) and the 200 back (2:09.31).
• Mille Hayosh (Brighton, Mich./Brighton) missed cracking Valpo's top-10 chart in the 1650 free by less than two-tenths of a second, covering the distance in 18:11.57.
• On the men's side, Valpo's top individual finishes came from Evan Curran (Golden, Colo./Golden) and Gabe Vasquez (Houston, Texas/Memorial). Curran came home in second place in the 100 free (47.34) and also paced Valpo in the 200 free (1:41.49), while Vasquez took the runner-up spot in the 200 breast (2:07.39) and also led the Beacons in the 100 breast (57.72).
• Caleb Smesko (Green, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) was the top Valpo swimmer in both backstroke events as well, posting times of 52.35 in the 100 back and 1:55.18 in the 200 back.
• Matthew Mantz (Spokane, Wash./Mead) swam a team-best time of 16:45.63 in the 1650 free, less than two seconds away from cracking the program's top-10 chart in the event.

 
Next Up
Valpo now sets its sights on the MVC Championships, being held in Evansville, Ind. Feb. 25-28. Swimmers who won't be competing at the conference meet will take to the pool at the Wabash Last-Chance Meet Feb. 22.