Valparaiso vs Illinois Tech vs Quincy
- October 18, 2024
- Valparaiso, Ind.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: Valpo Athletics
The Valpo women’s and men’s swimming teams combined for three dual meet wins as the Beacons hosted their home opener at the Valparaiso Aquatic Center Friday against Quincy and Illinois Tech. The women took top honors in six individual events and one relay on their way to wins over both opponents, while the men picked up a win over Illinois Tech.
How It Happened
- Two Beacons registered a pair of individual event wins on Friday evening. Freshman Ally Unruh (Peoria, Ill./Peoria) handled the distance free events, claiming the 1000 free in 10:59.19 and the 500 free in 5:26.21, while senior Sara Strauss (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake) swept the breaststroke swims, covering the 100 in 1:08.25 and the 200 in 2:29.79.
- Strauss also anchored Valpo’s 400 free relay quartet, overcoming a deficit of .68 when she dove into the water to win by .45 with a time of 3:45.52. Sophomores Sophie Schoch (Medina, Ohio/Medina) and Bri Keese (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) and senior Courtney Ledbetter (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland [Notre Dame College]) joined Strauss on the winning relay.
- Schoch led the Beacons in a pair of events Friday, including a victory in the 200 back in 2:13.80 — edging teammate Lily Kirkpatrick (Parker, Colo./Legend) by one-hundredth of a second to give Valpo a 1-2 finish. Schoch also paced the Valpo contingent in the 100 back with a time of 1:01.74, good for second place.
- Sophomore Kailyn Benoit (Sussex, Wis./Hamilton) touched the wall first in the 200 fly (2:13.56) and led the Beacons with a second-place finish in the 100 fly (1:02.82).
- On the men’s side, junior Jackson Oostman (Aurora, Ill./Marmion Academy) earned Valpo’s top finish in three events — a win in the 200 back (1:57.33) and runner-up showings in the 100 back (52.43) and the 200 IM (1:57.65).
- Junior Anthony Martin (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) took top honors in the 200 fly with a time of 1:57.29 and also led the Beacons with a second-place finish in the 100 free with a time of 48.52.
- Senior Andrew Berzai (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) posted an individual event win as well, covering the 200 breast in 2:12.92.
- The women’s squad ended the night with wins over both foes, topping Quincy 160.5-101.5 and Illinois Tech 188-80. On the men’s side, Valpo defeated Illinois Tech 189-86 and fell to Quincy 153-109.
Next Up
Valpo turns right around for its second meet in as many days at the Valparaiso Aquatic Center Saturday afternoon, as Eastern Illinois and Bellarmine come to town. The meet is slated to begin at 1 p.m.
Courtesy: Quincy Athletics
Valparaiso, Ind. – The Quincy University women’s swim team competed well in a tri-meet between Illinois Institute of Technology and Valparaiso University on Friday evening (Oct. 18). Quincy took down the Scarlet Hawks of IIT 174-90 and fell to the Beacons of Valpo 160.5-101.5.
The Hawks started the meet on a hot note, finishing first in the 400 medley relay. The Quad of Izabella Sparrow, Faith Cummings, Olga Pucarevic, and Ariaa Sheth finished at 4:04.41, a half a second in front of Division I opponent, Valparaiso.
Chantal Tiesinga and Cassie Rankin went second and third in the 1000 yard freestyle event, posting times 11:19.58 and 11:35.92 respectively.
Olga Pucarevic nabbed a few first place finishes, including a 1:01.70 100-yard backstroke finish. She then went back-to-back in her final two first place finishes, swimming the 100 butterfly at 59.70 and the 200 IM at a 2:18.59.
Junior Faith Cummings finished second in the 100 breast stroke at 1:09.16. She also came in second for the 200 breast stroke, swimming a 2:32.46.
Ellie Benjamin made a name for herself at the Valpo Aquatic Center, breaking the Quincy 200 butterfly record by three seconds at 2:14.27. Kaitlyn Malarney was just behind Benjamin at 2:18.34, just missing the previous record by a half second.
Sparrow finished third in the 50 freestyle with a 25.47 time and followed it up with a second place finish ni the 200 backstroke at 2:15.86.
Sheth and Benjamin finished third and fourth in the 500 freestyle. Sheth finished with a 5:37.58 time and Benjamin was just two seconds behind at 5:39.92.
The Hawks finished the meet with a second place 400 freestyle relay from Sparrow, Sheth, Megan Schill, and Shelby Smith. The quad swam a 3:45.97. The Hawks took third place in the event as well, with Nancy Olson, Claire McDaris, Tiesinga, and Rankin.
“Great meet today with a full line up,” said coach Bryan Christiansen. “Swimmer of the meet was Chantal Tiesinga with an incredible 1000 and a great pair of 100s. I was really proud of how we swam today, we’re a little beat up but still putting up times significantly faster than this time last year. Go Hawks!”
The Hawks will return for another round of swims at nationally-ranked Lewis University Saturday, October 19th.
