Prelims Finals The four-day National Independent Conference Championships concluded this evening with Oakland University???s women???s team claiming their second championship title. The women???s team swam a close meet just edging out Northern Arizona by one point. The meet was an exciting one as it came down to the last event. On the men???s side, Oakland finished in fourth place with a total of 528, while Southern Methodist captured their second consecutive championship title with 771 points. The opening event went just the way the Golden Grizzlies women???s team was hoping with junior Angela Simetkosky (Livonia, Mich.) capturing the event. Simetkosky swam the mile (1650) freestyle event in 17:00.91, beating all other competitors by more than 13 seconds. The distance event was Simetkosky???s second victory of the meet ???C Simetkosky captured the 500 free in a time of 4:56.86 on Thursday evening???s finals. Earlier in the day, Golden Grizzlies freshman diver and Mid-Con???s Diver of the Year, Linda Keskey (Cokato, Mich.) placed second in the platform diving event ???C splitting four Northern Arizona top divers. Keskey???s score on the platform was 321.70. Golden Grizzly Tara Berringer (Eugene, Ore.) captured the women???s 200 backstroke event in a season best time of 2:02.11. Teammate Erin Meredith (Rockford, Mich.) also swam the event finishing in sixth place with a time of 2:08.05. The men???s 200 backstroke event saw freshman Andrew Coupland (Ottawa, Ont.) finish in third place with a season best time of 1:47.94. Also swimming in that event was Ehud Segal (Givat Zeev, Israel) who finished with a time of 1:50.19 and in seventh place. Perhaps the most exciting race of the night was the women???s final 100 freestyle event. Oakland was represented by four different swimmers who battled it out along with the other competitors for a first, third, fourth, and sixth place finishes. Capturing the title of the 100 free was senior Danielle Ward (Brighton, Mich.) in a new school record time of 50.06. Oksana Strelets (Kazakhstan) finished the race in second place with a time of 50.89 while teammates Line Jensen (Silkeborg, Denmark) and Karoline Freytag (Kronach, Germany) finished in fourth (51.36) and sixth (52.40). The men???s 100 freestyle race was also a close one with Golden Grizzly Chris Sullivan (Rockford, Mich.) capturing the title. Sullivan has proved that he is not only the fastest freestyle swimmer of the meet, but also one of the fastest in the country. Sullivan???s time during the finals in the 100 free was 43.78 however, that was not the fastest time that Sullivan swam throughout the day. Sullivan???s preliminary time of 43.62 set a new school, pool, and NIC record and also qualified him for the NCAA???s in Austin, Texas. However, Sullivan wasn???t finished breaking records as he swam the last event of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay, with a 100 split time of 43.27. His time sets as the fifth fastest swimmer in the country. This time is Sullivan???s second NCAA qualifying time of the meet as he also qualified in the 50 freestyle event yesterday. The 200 breaststroke event was won by junior Shelley Aurit (Eugene, Ore.) in a time of 2:21.00. Aurit???s teammate Maria Musialczyk (Grand Rapids, Mich.) finished in third place with a time of 2:23.94. On the men???s side, freshman Scott Dickens (Ancaster, Ont.) was the top finisher for Oakland with a time of 2:02.97. NIC 2003 Swimmer of the Year Tanya Korniyenko (Almaty, Kazakhstan) took the 200 fly in fine form hitting the wall at 2:00.08 to set a new school, and pool. The time is also NCAA consideration time. The last two events, the men???s and women???s 200 freestyle relays closed the 2003 NIC meet in fine form. On the women???s side, the relay determined the 2003 NIC champions ???C a close battle between Northern Arizona and Oakland saw the two teams only seven points apart before the relay (Northern Arizona with the lead). However, the Golden Grizzlies prevailed by winning the relay in a time of 3:21.23 to capture the NIC Championships beating Northern Arizona by a one point margin. The relay team of Danielle Ward, Line Jensen, Karoline Freytag, and Oksana Strelets broke a school, pool and NIC record. The men???s race was also a record breaker on the men???s side as a relay team of Sullivan, Coupland, Dickens and Sean Broadbent (Windsor, Ont.) set a new school record with a time of 2:56.65. Sullivan, who led the race, broke his previous time in the 100 free with a split of 43.27. Korniyenko was named NIC Women???s Swimmer of the Year as she led the Golden Grizzlies in individual points to help Oakland???s women???s team capture their second consecutive NIC Championship. For most Oakland swimmers and divers, the 2003 NIC Championships was the concluding meet for the 2002-03 season. Oakland said goodbye to five senior swimmers this evening recognizing their contributions to both the team and University. The five seniors graduating in 2003 are Doug Drazin (West Bloomfield, Mich.), Jim Kanak (Birmingham, Mich.), Jessica Lau (Troy, Mich.), Jordan Longhurst (Albion, Mich.), and Danielle Ward (Brighton, Mich.). Men???s Final Results 1. Southern Methodist ???C 771 2. Hawaii ???C 676 3. Western Kentucky ???C 538 4. Oakland ???C 528 5. Florida Atlantic ???C 398 6. Louisiana-Monroe ???C 301 7. Denver ???C 230 Women???s Final Results 1. Oakland ???C 896 2. Northern Arizona ???C 895 3. Florida Atlantic ???C 692 4. North Florida ???C 433 5. Western Kentucky - 206