Prelims Finals Day two of the NICs saw many records smashed as Oakland University???s women???s and men???s teams vie for the championship title at the OU Aquatics Center. In total, the Golden Grizzlies set five new records ???C including NIC records, school records, and pool records. Oakland???s women???s team ends the day ahead of the pack with 294 points while the men???s team treads water at third place with 175 points. Chris Sullivan (Rockford, Mich.) was the big story of the day as the sophomore qualified for the NCAA???s in Austin, Texas a total of three times throughout the day. Sullivan swam the 50 freestyle in a record breaking 19.70 seconds during the morning session ???C setting new pool, NIC, and school records. However, that wouldn???t be the fastest Sullivan would swim on the day. The stage was set for finals in the evening when Sullivan faced Southern Methodist???s top swimmer. The two squared off in a close contest with Sullivan finishing on top and capturing the NIC 50 free title beating his previous records in a time of 19.67. The last event of the night would see Sullivan swim event faster ???C the 200 freestyle relay. Sullivan led the leg of the relay in a time of 19.63 ???C the fastest time swam during the day and the time that stands to hold all school, NIC, and pool records. In the other 50 free event, Oakland???s Oksana Strelets (Kazakhstan) swam a season best time of 23.39 to capture the title. The time qualifies Strelets for consideration to compete at the NCAA???s where she could potentially join her teammate counterpart, Sullivan. The sprint freestyle specialists weren???t the only swimmers making a splash in the pool, as the distance swimmers were hard at work beating their competitors. In the opening 500 freestyle event, the women finished 1-2-3 as Mid-Con record holder Angela Simetkosky (Livonia, Mich.) touched the wall at 4:50.29 ???C beating her Mid-Con record. Placing second behind Simetkosky was senior Danielle Ward (Brighton, Mich.) in a time of 4:57.34 followed by sophomore Karoline Freytag (Kronach, Germany) in 5:01.18. Freshman Andrew Coupland (Ottawa, Ont.) would finish third in the men???s 500 free in a time of 4:30.90 ???C a season best time for the Golden Grizzlies. The first place winner of the event, Hawaii???s Andrew Affleck, set a new pool and NIC record in the event hitting the wall at 4:23.95. The 200 individual medley race was another record setting event as freshman Line Jensen (Silkeborg, Denmark) set a school record at 2:02.38. Jensen has swum faster at every meet swum so far during the 2003 season and has yet to finish second in the event. The men???s 200 IM was also a school record-breaking event for freshman Scott Dickens (Ancaster, Ont.). Dickens finished the 200 IM in third place (1:49.06) behind Hawaii???s Cheyne Bloch, who set a new pool record in the event with a time of 1:46.43. The last two events of the meet, the 200 free relays, saw Oakland finish first on both the men???s and women???s side. The women set a new NIC, pool, and school record in their relay finish in a time of 1:32.62. A relay team of Strelets, Jensen, Freytag, and Ward captured the event in NCAA ???B??? qualifying standards. On the men???s side, the relay was led by Sullivan and finished by Dickens, Doug Drazin (West Bloomfield, Mich.), and Sean Broadbent (Windsor, Ont.) in a time of 1:19.71 to set a new school record for Oakland University. The team caught up to opponents Southern Methodist and both teams hit the pads at the same time, tying for the event title. Both teams will continue the meet championships tomorrow with prelims set for 11 a.m. and finals for 6:30 p.m. Another exciting day will be expected at the OU Aquatics Center with the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, 400 medley relay, men???s 3-mtr, and women???s 1-mtr. diving to be held. Men???s Standing (through Day Two) 1. Southern Methodist ???C 276 2. Hawaii ???C 212 3. Oakland University ???C 175 4. Florida Atlantic ???C 156 5. Western Kentucky ???C 152 6. Louisiana-Monroe ???C 100 7. Denver ???C 56 Women???s Standings (through Day Two) 1. Oakland University ???C 294 2. Northern Arizona ???C 282 3. Florida Atlantic ???C 241 4. North Florida ???C 142 5. Western Kentucky - 86