GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- South Dakota men's and women's swimmers have set two school records and met several NCAA Division II qualifying standards at The North Central Conference Swimming and Diving Championships that began Wednesday night (Feb. 19) and continued Thursday morning (Feb. 20) in Grand Forks, N.D.

Audrey Donley, a sophomore from Arvada, Colo., scored USD's first points of the meet with a third place finish in the women's 1,000 freestyle (10:41.25) on Wednesday night. Donley, who had an NCAA DIvision II nationals "B" qualifying time, broke her own school record in the event set in 2002 (10:42.33). Jessica Tietz, a freshman from Williston, N.D., also scored for South Dakota with a 13th place finish (10:58.55). Lacey Liebman, a sophomore from Crystal Lake, Ill.,was 17th in 11:09.19, Sarah Rodgers (Bellevue, Neb.), 19th, 11:20.94; Stacy Dahlman (Papillion, Neb.), 27th, 11:54.52; and McCall Streich (Warroad, Minn.), 28th, 11:56.34.

USD's women's team was in fifth with 20 points after one event.

Lind, a sophomore from Kearney, Neb., had the top preliminary time in the men's 200 yard IM with a clocking of 1:53.21 which automatically qualified him for NCAA Division II nationals. Lind set a school record in the 200 IM, cracking the 1994 record of of Jason Knudsen, who had a 1:54.33 in 1994. John Murman, a freshman from Lincoln, Neb., was fifth in 1:58.50. Chuck Scribner, a junior from Hastings, Neb., was sixth in 1:59.04 while Eric Dufek, a senior from Lander, Wyo., was ninth in 2:00.28 and Kyle Anderson, a freshman from Portland, Ore., was 10th with a time of 2:01.89.

Craft, a sophomore from Palmer, Alaska, recorded the best time of the 50 freestyle preliminaries with a clocking of 20.72, which was a NCAA Division II "A" qualifyng time for nationals. The mark also was the second best time in school history (Zach Weiss, 20.28, 1999). Tim Byers, a sophomore from Billings, Mont., had the second best time in the 50-free prelims, going 21.20 which is an NCAA DIvision II "B" qualifying time. Alex Smith, a freshman from Houston, Texas, was fourth in prelims with a NCAA Division II "B" time of 21.34. Byers had the sixth and Smith, the 10th, best 50 free times in school history. Also in the prelims of the 50 free, Tyler Scheer of Lincoln, Neb., was 10th in 21.77.

For the USD women's team, Molly Connolly, a junior from Elkhorn, Neb., and Kari Kopecky, a junior from Roosevelt, Minn., qualified for nationals in the 50 free style. Connolly, who had a 24.34 clocking and Kopecky, who finished in 24.50, both had national "B" cuts. Connolly's time ranks fourth all-time and Kopecky, who swam a school record 23.90 in 2001, recorded the fifth best 50 free time in school history. In addition, Karen Burke and Angie Stalker finished 15th in the prelims with times of 25.55.

Other event information -

In the men's 500 freestyle, Drew Fleek, a senior from Lincoln, Neb., was sixth (4:44.66) in the prelims. Clint Eckhardt, a senior from Hastngs, Neb., was eighth (4:46.95). Dustin Tomhave of Vermillion, S.D. finished 10th (4:47.36) while Garth Meacham, a sophomore from West Des Moines, Iowa, was 11th (4:47.64). Adrian Smith, a freshman from Plano, Texas,was 12th (4:50.97) and Dave Degnan, a sophomore from Phoenix, Ariz., was 14th (4:56.78).

Donley also had a "B" cut in the 500 freestyle. She went 5:12.33, which was 10-hundredth out of second and 20-hundreths from first. USD's Lacey Liebman of Crystal Lake, Ill., was 12th (5:24.08).

In the women's 200 IM, Jill Stensby, a junior from Portland, Ore., was 18th in the prelims in 2:17.67.