Feb. 16, 2006

MARQUETTE, Mich. - Lewis University swimmer Michael Lapustin bettered his NCAA Division II "B" qualifying time in the 200 IM but came up short of defending his conference title in day two of competition at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships at Northern Michigan University.

The Lewis men moved into a tie with Ashland University for fifth-place overall by scoring 106 points for the day, while the women added 77 points to their total and moved up one spot to eighth place. The men now have 147 points, and the women carry 101 into day three of competition.

Lapustin, the 2005 200 IM champion, swam the event in 1:53.60 to produce Lewis' best individual finish for day two. First-place finisher AJ Erard (Wayne State University) took the title with a time of 1:53.51.

Junior Adam Brown followed up his fourth-place finish in the 1000 freestyle on Wednesday with a fifth-place showing in the 500 freestyle on Thursday. His time of 4:44.63 gave Lewis 14 more points towards their overall score.

Freshmen Greg Marx (4:53.14) and Tim Farmer (4:54.20) also swam the 500, finishing 12th and 13th respectively.

On the women's side, freshman Mary Jung scored an eighth-place finish in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:22.96. Junior Michelle Sliva raced in the B-final for the 500 freestyle, finishing with a time of 5:22.40.

Lewis had two swimmers in the women's 200 IM, as sophomore Stephanie White-Olson (2:15.02) and senior Jenny Byers (2:15.08) finished 11th and 12th to secure an additional 11 points for the women.

The relay team of Byers, White-Olson, Sliva and Jung garnered 30 more team points with a fourth-place finish in the 400 medley relay with a time of 4:05.69. The men's 400 medley relay team of Lapustin, Farmer and juniors Steve O'Leary and Jevgenijs Pesins earned a fifth-place finish for 28 points.

The women finished ninth in the 200 freestyle relay, while the men took seventh.

The Wayne State men's and women's teams hold the overall lead heading into day three. The men maintained their lead from day one and now have a total of 319 points, while the women (294 points) took the lead for the first time on Thursday.

The Flyers return to the pool on Friday, with swimmers competing in nine events.