BIRMINGHAM -- After the first full day of competition at the 2015 SAA Swimming and Diving Championships, the Viking men are in third place with 238 points and the women are fifth (138 points).

The evening began with the ladies placing fourth and tenth in the 200 free relay while the men were first and eighth. The first place finish for the men is a new school record of 1:26.66 but also an NCAA National Championship "B" cut time.

The 500 freestyle saw junior Janelle Spanjers place ninth for the women. Joey Ellwanger briefly held a new school record in the same event at 4:45.70 (ninth place). Yet his new record was lowered to 4:42.77 by Mac Stovall (he placed fifth overall).

Micaela Campagna swam to a 13th place in the 200 Individual Medley. On the men's side, Robbie Ellwanger, William Walker and Adam Jarrell placing 15th, 14th and seventh respectfully.

The preliminaries for the 50 freestyle found Haley Brown in a tie for eighth place resulting in a swim-off. She won, then later defended her place in the finals. The men's 50 freestyle finished with three Vikings in the top eight scoring positions: Garrison Bemis finished eighth at 21.66; Cameron Grant sixth at 21.43; and finishing as the 2015 conference champion was Johnathan Purdy. He posted a 20.70 giving him an NCAA National Championship "B" cut.

To close the evening, the women placed fifth and eleventh in the 400 Medley Relay, while the men swam to second and tenth place finishes.

"There were great swims by everyone today," said Berry Head Coach Paul Flinchbaugh. "I'm pleased to see everyone dropping time. They put in the hard work necessary and tapered well."

View 200 free relay interview

View Purdy's 50 free interview