Feb. 25, 2004

CHICAGO - Daniel Thomasson started the 2004 Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships off with a bang on Wednesday night, finishing first in the 1000 freestyle to grab the only individual title of the day. His finish helped push the men's team to a second-place finish after the first day of competition, totaling 99 points, 25 points behind first-place Wright State. The Viking women stand in fifth place, one point behind Illinois-Chicago for fourth. UW-Green Bay leads the women's meet with 134 points.

Thomasson finished the 1000 freestyle, an event in the championships for the first time, with a time of 9:27.93, nearly a second and a half faster than Wright State's Dejan Antolic, who finished second. Also picking up solid finish in the 1000 free was Niall McGrane, placing fifth in 9:41.90.

The Viking men also took second in the 200 medley relay, finishing one one-hundredth of a second behind Wright State. The team of Todd Hostutler, Gabriel Linton, Luke Wilkens and Lyle Wilkens were touched out at the wall, narrowly missing the second win of the championships for the Vikings.

In preliminary action, senior diver Chris Jones stands second on the 3m board with a score of 459.00. The finals on 3m will be contested on Thursday afternoon.

In the women's meet, the 200 medley relay team of Samantha Jones, Marianne Lionell, Marlene Przykling and Kirsty McKechnie picked up the day's highest finish, a fourth-place showing in 1:48.18. The Vikings also got a fifth-place showing in the 200 freestyle relay, as the team of Lionell, Lori Yaross, Angie Malloy and Przykling finished fifth in 1:39.33.

The meet continues on Thursday, with preliminary heats beginning at 11:30 a.m. eastern. Live results for the championship are available here.