The Valpo men's swimming team broke the program record in the 200 free relay Wednesday evening, highlighting the opening day of competition for the Beacon men and women at the 2026 MVC Championships in Evansville, Ind.
 
How It Happened

• The Beacon men kicked off the evening session with a record swim of 1:23.24 in the 200 free relay from Luke Snider (Germantown, Tenn./Memphis University School), Isaac Dinari (Houston, Texas/Memorial), Ben Mettler (Sussex, Wis./Hamilton) and Anthony Martin (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett). Valpo surpassed the previous record by 15-hundredths of a second, while Snider's leadoff leg of 21.04 improved upon his sixth-fastest time in program history in the 50 free.
• The women were just two-hundredths of a second from their school record in the same event, as Una Dizdarevic (Bloomingdale, Ill./Lake Park), Bri Keese (Brighton, Colo./Brighton), Faith Bargwell (Grand Rapids, Mich./Rockford) and Audrey Morgan (Villa Park, Ill./Willowbrook) covered the distance in 1:35.35.
• Valpo had five swimmers qualify for individual event finals Wednesday, including four on the men's side — two of which came in the 200 IM. Jackson Oostman (Aurora, Ill./Marmion Academy) posted a time of 1:51.86 in the finals to place 21^st, while Gabe Vasquez (Houston, Texas/Memorial) — whose prelim time of 1:52.53 moved him up to second in program history in the event — finished 23^rd with a time of 1:52.75.
• Dinari touched the wall in 21.14 in the finals of the 50 free to finish in 23^rd position, while Gabriel Corkran (Avondale Estates, Ga./Druid Hills) finished 24^th in the 500 free, swimming a finals time of 4:36.25 after qualifying with a prelim time of 4:34.45.
• On the women's side, Morgan claimed 21^st place in the 500 free. She qualified for the finals with a prelim time of 5:07.53, and shaved nearly three seconds off that mark with a finals time of 5:04.65 — setting her PR by 1.38 seconds and moving up to third place in program history in the event.
• Majo Suarez de la Fuente (Mexico City, Mexico/ITESM Preparatoria Tec Campus Santa Fe [Bethel]) improved upon her seventh-fastest time in program history in the 200 IM with a prelim swim of 2:12.47, while Keese had a time-trial swim of 27.02 in the 50 fly to move into ninth all-time at Valpo in that event. Keese also was the fastest Beacon in the prelims of the 50 free, covering it in 24.16.
• The Beacons ended the night with another pair of strong relay swims. Sophie Schoch (Medina, Ohio/Medina), Natalie Eaton (Tulsa, Okla./Jenks), Kailyn Benoit (Sussex, Wis./Hamilton) and Morgan combined to record a time of 3:53.98 in the 400 medley relay, improving upon their third-best time in program history, while Schoch's 100 back leadoff leg of 58.16 moved her up to third all-time at Valpo in that event.
• The men's 400 medley relay quartet of Caleb Smesko (Green, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit), Carson Parker (Silver Lake, Ind./Tippecanoe Valley), Asa Sadowsky (Green Bay, Wis./Bay Port [Milwaukee]) and Martin swam the second-fastest 400 medley relay in program history with a time of 3:21.55.
• The Valpo men sit in eighth place after the first day of competition with 99 points, while the women are in ninth place with 84 points.

 
Next Up
Valpo continues the 2026 MVC Championships on Thursday with the second of four days of action. Prelims start at 10:30 a.m. and finals at 5:30 p.m.