(CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind., Feb. 14) – The McKendree University swimming and diving program continued to impress on day three of the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Championships at the Crawfordsville Aquatic Center. The Bearcats will finish the Championships on Saturday.
 
The men sit in second place with 1066.5 points, 74.5 points behind the leader, Indianapolis. The women hold tight on fifth place with 625 points.
 
Saturday's events include: 100 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, 1650 freestyle, and 400 freestyle relay.
 
Starting off with the 500 freestyle, sophomore Hallie Dixon (Jeffersonville, IN/Jeffersonville High School) placed eighth in the A final with a time of 5:04.11. Junior Molly Smalley (Windhoek, Namibia/Plymouth College) and sophomore Claire Brouillet (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt West High School) took part in the C final, taking fourth and seventh place.
 
For the men, junior Throstur Bjarnason (Reykjanesbær, Iceland/Fjölbrautaskóli Suðurnesja) took gold, posting a 4:25.80. Senior Luca Simonetti (Sassari, Italy/Liceo Scientifico Gulielmo Marconi Sassari) also competed in the A final, taking seventh with a 4:33.15. Freshman Fabio Dalu (Cagliari, Italy/Liceo L.B. Alberti Cagliari) won the B final with a time of 4:24.18.
 
In the 100 backstroke, senior Sydney Rey (Columbia, IL/Columbia High School) placed fourth with a time of 56.64 in the A final. Sophomore Abigail Rumpp (Knoxville, TN/L&N STEM Academy) and senior Meredith Geyer (Germantown, TN/Germantown High School) competed in the B final, taking second and third with times of 56.98 and 57.13, respectively. Junior Iris Hilmarsdottir (Reykjanesbær, Iceland/Fjölbrautaskóli Suðurnesja) took eighth in the C final.
 
Freshman Davante Carey (Nassau, Bahamas/Queens College) took home silver with a time of 47.81 in the 100 backstroke.
 
For the 100 breaststroke, freshman John Heaphy (Eagle River, AK/Eagle River High School) finished in first place, taking gold with a time of 53.72. Freshman Grace Credit (La Grange Highlands, IL/Lyons Township High School) competed in the B final, placing sixth with a 1:06.28.
 
Junior Victoria Sananikone (Cedar Park, TX/Cedar Park High School) placed fifth in the A final of the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:05.72. Fellow junior Katelyn Anguish (Afton, TN/Chuckley Doak High School) took seventh in the C Final, turning in a 2:16.38.
 
For the men, senior Matija Pucarevic (Belgrade, Serbia/Sixth Belgrade Grammar School) and sophomore Noah Javens (West Lafayette, IN/William Henry Harrison High School) each competed in the A final. Pucarevic finished with a 1:46.70, taking home silver. Javens finished sixth with a time of 1:48.37.
 
In the 800 freestyle relay, senior Meredith Geyer (Germantown, TN/Germantown High School), Brouillet, Sananikone, and Dixon placed fourth with a time of 7:36.68. The men's team of junior Alexander Skinner (Namibia, Africa/Windhoek Afrikaans Private School), Simonetti, Bjarnason, and Dalu turned in the fastest time in Division-II, with a time of 6:31.90, taking gold.
 
In one meter diving, junior Caitlyn Canadi (South Lyon, MI/South Lyon High School) scored 323.15 points and junior Lilia de Oliveira Pelaez (Ile Perrot, Quebec, Canada/Beaconsfield High School) scored 319.35 to place sixth and seventh, respectively.
 
In three meter diving, sophomore Ethan Larson (Anchorage, AK/Paideia High School) took eighth with a 431.85 points and sophomore Xavier Flores (Fresno, CA/Clovis West High School) placed 10^th with 303.45.