Valparaiso vs. Eastern Illinois

CHARLESTON, Illinois, January 31. VALPARAISO'S men's swimming and diving team won six events for the second straight day on Saturday afternoon, but was unable to break through with a victory as the Crusaders dropped a 177.5-101.5 meet against Eastern Illinois finishing their weekend road trip in Charleston, Ill. The Valpo women also fell by a score of 213-70.

Adam Jajtner (Port Washington, Wis./Port Washington H.S.) led the way for the Brown and Gold's swimmers, winning a pair of events. The senior started his day cruising to a 25-second victory in the 500 freestyle with a time of 10:14.82, a season's best mark by more than six seconds. He then doubled up the victories with a triumph in the 500 free, turning in a time of 4:57.28.

Diver Kurtis Malone (Pekin, Ill./Pekin H.S.) also won a pair of events on Saturday for the Crusaders. Malone posted a pair of season high scores on the afternoon. He began the day scoring 247.60 points on the one-meter board, and followed that up with a 209.61 mark on the three-meter.

David Sivak (Hobart, Ind./Hobart H.S.) added a win for Valpo in the 200 freestyle by nearly two and a half seconds, touching the wall in 1:45.25.

The other Valpo victory came from Victor Sikorski (Valparaiso,Ind./Wheeler H.S.) in the 50 free as the freshman outtouched the Panthers by 0.10 seconds to win in 22.00 seconds.

Austin Hunter (La Crescent, Minn./La Crescent H.S.) earned a runner-up finish for the Crusaders in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:04.15.

The Panther women won 15 of the 16 events on the afternoon, with Amy Andracki (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect H.S.) breaking through into the win column for the Brown and Gold. The sophomore won the 100 breaststroke,
outtouching Eastern Illinois by just 0.03 seconds to touch the wall in 1:09.38. Andracki also earned a runner-up finish in the 200 breast with a time of 2:35.33.

Stephanie Ferschl (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago H.S.) added a pair of second place finishes for the Crusaders in the distance events. She finished runner-up in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 11:09.74 while posting a second place finish in the 500 free in 5:31.64. The sophomore also turned in the third fastest 400 individual medley time, finishing in 4:56.10.

Valpo's other second place finish on the afternoon came from Rachel Majercik (Schaumburg, Ill./Conant H.S.). She earned the honor in the 100 butterfly, touching the wall in 1:01.33. Majercik also finished third in the 50 freestyle with her time of 25.39 seconds.

Laura Rickey (Monmouth, Ill./Monmouth-Roseville H.S.) finished third in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:03.05 while Jaclyn Krause (Rochester, Mich./Notre Dame Prep H.S.) earned the same finish in the 100 free with a time of 56.15 seconds. Shaunna Dangremond (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino H.S.)added a third place finish in the 200 backstroke, touching the wall in 2:17.86.

Valparaiso (1-9) will wrap up the home schedule on Friday afternoon, as the Crusaders entertain Cleveland State at the Athletics-Recreation Center pool beginning at 1 p.m.

Special thanks to Valparaiso for contributing this report.

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