After six events on Thursday, Oakland University leads the pack in both the men’s and women’s Mid-Continent Conference Swimming & Diving Championships. The men took a commanding 25-point lead on day one, edging IUPUI in second place with 100 points. Following in third through fifth places are Centenary (99), Western Illinois (81) and Valparaiso (72), respectively. The Golden Grizzlies’ 200 medley relay team got things off to a great start for OU, taking first place with a time of 1:35.56. The team was anchored by Chris Tansel (Dundee, Mich.), who recorded a split of 21.91 – his fastest 50-yard time of the season.

In the men’s 1650 freestyle, the tandem of Ted Smith (Brantford, Ontario) and James Sewell (Council Bluffs, Ind.) nearly tied for fourth, though Smith came in a finger-length ahead of his teammate at 16:55.84, while Sewell timed in at 16:55.88. Centenary claimed the top two spots in the race to gain 37 points. The Golden Grizzlies led IUPUI by 13 points after the event, but widened the gap in the final event of the day – the 800 freestyle relay.

Oakland blew past the competition in the men’s third swim of the evening, topping Centenary College by nearly eight seconds in the four-legged event. Bryon Tansel (Dundee, Mich.), Blaine Dolcetti (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario), Aroldo Nery (Barinas, Venezuela) and Nick McCollum (Fairfield, Ohio) took the title with a time of 6:59.75.

The five-team field returns to the pool at 10:00 am Friday for preliminary heats with day two finals to start at 6:00 pm.