Swimming Splits Tri-Meet Saturday at ARC While Celebrating Seniors

Saturday afternoon, the Valpo men’s and women’s swimming teams took on Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois at the ARC Pool in a tri-meet. Both sides earned wins over Western Illinois, but fell to Eastern Illinois. Saturday’s event was Valpo’s Senior Meet, as prior to the meet, the Brown and Gold honored the eight members of their senior class.

How It Happened

  • The team of Sophie Morelock (Milan, Mich./Milan), Mikayla DePover (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island), senior Erica Martins (Hartland, Wis./Lake County Lutheran) and Morgan Markley (Bluffton, Ind./Norwell) picked up the first win on the women’s side in the 400 medley relay, touching the wall at 4:05.73.
  • Senior Paige Wright (Surprise, Ariz./Paradise Honors) had a strong showing in her senior meet, registering first-place finishes in the 500 free (5:21.12) and the 200 free (1:58.95), as well as a second-place showing in the 1000 free.
  • Wright also teamed up with Chiara Robinson (Castle Pines, Colo./Rock Canyon), Markley and Martins in the 400 free relay (3:44.00) to close the meet with a win.
  • DePover posted two first-place individual finishes for the women, capturing the 100 breaststroke (1:07.80) and the 200 breaststroke (2:31.99).
  • Markley claimed top honors in the 100 free (54.76) and came up just .01 shy of a second win in the 50 free, while Morelock picked up an individual win in the 200 backstroke (2:15.17).
  • Brian Daniels (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield East)led the way for the Valpo men with two individual event wins. The freshman picked up the first win on the men’s side in the 1000 free, recording a time of 10:12.81. He later would record another first-place finish in the 500 free (4:55.44).
  • Dominic May (Naperville, Ill./Glenbrook North)posted a second-place finish in the 100 free (48.04) and had a pair of third-place showing as well, while Derek Eidson (Ventura, Calif./Ventura) took second in the 100 fly (54.12).
  • The Valpo men closed out the day with a victory, as the team of Eidson, Daniels, senior Austin Scheer (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard)and May won the 400-free relay with a time of 3:16.19.
  • In the double-dual format, the Valpo women defeated Western Illinois, 166-86, and dropped a tight 131-128 decision to Eastern Illinois. The men also earned a win over WIU, 134-119, but fell to EIU, 153-106.
  • Martins, Wright, Scheer, Victoria Bain (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton), Tara Lawson (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein), Danielle Richardson (Valparaiso, Ind./Chesterton), Brendon Johnson (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) and Joe North (Germantown, Ohio/Valley View) were the Valpo seniors recognized prior to the meet for their contributions to the program over their time as student-athletes at Valpo.

Up Next

Valpo returns to action next Friday, January 24 when it travels to Mishawaka, Ind. to compete in a dual meet against Bethel. The meet is slated for a 5 p.m. CT start.