APPLETON, Wis. - Ripon College joined a few other Midwest Conference schools, as well as Marquette University in the 2007 Lawrence Invitational. The men's team finished fourth out of four schools overall, scoring 252 points, which was just nine behind third place Marquette. The women's team fared slightly better, finishing third out of five teams with a combined 409 points. Lawrence won both the men's and women's meets.

The men's team was highlighted by Parker Heaps' win in the 500 yard freestyle. Heaps swam a time of 5:13.18 to earn 20 points for the Red Hawks. That time was seven seconds faster than second place. The men's relay team had their best finish in the 400 yard freestyle, as they placed second behind only Lawrence University. The team of Heaps, Ryan Hendricks, Rich Heitkamp, and Bruce Kukowski finished 17 seconds behind the Vikings.

Jenni Schalla won an event for the Red Hawk women as well. Schalla finished just .03 seconds in front of Lawrence's Chrissie Nelson for first place in the 200 yard IM. Schalla also swam on the 200 yard medley relay team that finished second, three seconds behind Lawrence. Joining her on the team were Erin Oakley, Becca LaClair, and Shannon Colburn.

Ripon has one last meet before the Conference Championships. They will travel to Lawrence University once again next weekend for the Wisconsin Private College Championships, which will be held at Noon on Saturday, January 27th.