FORT PIERCE, Fla. — It’s early deja vu for the Jamestown Community College swimming and diving teams, with the women holding a 41-point lead on second place after the first day of the NJCAA swimming and diving championships Wednesday. Their male counterparts aren’t too far behind, sitting in second, just five points of the pace.

“Overall, the women are in a very good situation,” said head coach Todd Conklin. “We have a lot more great swims ahead of us after our lightest day of the week, so being in first is a great spot to be. On the men’s side, we knew it was going to be a battle. We need to do a better job of preparing coming in, so we are prepared for the rest of the week.”

The night started in spectacular fashion, with Roxanne Lothian finding a spot on the podium with her seventh-place finish in the 50-yard breaststroke.

Zach Johnson followed that up with a sixth-place finish on the men’s side, the highest an individual male has ever placed for the Jayhawks at nationals. His time of 26.32 set both a Jayhawk program record and a new Region 3 record.

Next up was the 1,000-yard freestyle. Cassie Lyon captured ninth for Jamestown CC, swimming a 12:06:34, smashing the Jayhawks’ program record by more than 20 seconds.

“It’s nice to get off to some records being broken,” Conklin said. “Zach Johnson grabbing a regional and school record and Cassie Lyon with a tremendous drop, then the 800 free relay team achieving something of that magnitude.”

For the men in the 1,000-yard freestyle, Diego Villarroel and Samuel Hersom claimed 16th and 17th respectively.

The 200-yard individual medley then took center stage, where Willow Chase swam a 2:37:31 to grab another podium for the Jayhawks as she finished seventh.

Villarreol was back in the water for the 200-yard individual medley, where he clocked a 17th-place finish.

The next event was the 50-yard freestyle. Sophomore Emily Swan scored points for JCC with her 13th-place time. Daniel Peterson scored points for the men with a 14th-place swim.

Last up was the 800-yard freestyle relay. For the women, the team of Chase, Addison Lawson, Sophia Gervasio, and Lyon set a new program record as they touched in fourth place with a 9:05:35, topping the old mark by 6 seconds.

The men’s squad of Hersom, Christian Merrill, Peterson, and Villarroel clocked an 8:08:30, good for seventh place.

“Super proud of both the men and women after day one; tomorrow will be a tremendous day for us. Hopefully, we can continue to improve on our swims,” Conklin said.

There is little time for the Jayhawks to rest up before they are back in the water at 9:30 a.m today at Indian River State College.