Jamestown Community College’s Cameron Milewski prepares for a dive at the NJCAA national championships on Thursday. Photo courtesy of JCC Athletics

FORT PIERCE, Fla. — You can’t ask the Jamestown Community College swimming and diving teams to be in much better of a spot after Day 2 of the NJCAA national championship hosted by Indian River State College in sunny Florida.

The ladies expanded their lead to 84.5 points ahead of Genesee Community College, while the men dived past the competition to assume the top spot by 12 points over Genesee.

“Both teams had a tremendous second day leading to both teams now in first place,” said head coach Todd Conklin. “The women being led by Roxanne Lothian, with a new school record in the 400 and then a third-place, All-American showing in the 400 medley relay. As for the men, they really fought hard today to put together two really nice relays, and Cam (Milewski)’s diving really helps.”

The night started in fantastic fashion for Jamestown, with the 200 free relay teams both shining under the bright lights. The ladies jumped off the blocks with a fourth-place swim from the group of Desiree Putt, Emily Swan, Willow Chase and Roxanne Lothian.

Then the men followed that up with a seventh-place showing from Cameron Milewski, Daniel Peterson, Zach Johnson and Samuel Hersom; that finish put them in the top spot for the first time in nationals.

Next up was the 50 back, where JCC once again claimed a spot on the podium as sophomore Desiree Putt swam to seventh.

In the 400 individual medley, Roxanne Lothian continues to be the belle of the ball for the Jayhawks. Her program record-breaking time of 4:55:33 was good enough to earn a fourth-place finish behind only scholarship swimmers.

On the men’s side, Diego Villarroel secured points for JCC with his 16th-place performance.

The 200 free was next for JCC, where Cassie Lyon joined the list of All-Americans by finishing inside the top 12, with an 11th-place time.

All eyes switched to the diving well after that for the 3-meter event. Jamestown’s Cameron Milewski propelled JCC back to the top of the standings with his third-place score.

Finally, swimmers finished up for the night with the 400-yard medley relay. The ladies flew off the blocks to a stunning third-place swim behind the same team as the opening relay: Putt, Swan, Chase and Lothian.

For the men, it was Christian Merrill, Zach Johnson, Diego Villarroel and Cameron Milewski earning a podium spot in eighth to guarantee they stayed in first.

“The coaches are proud as the kids continue to swim well with basically all personal best times. There is not much else we can ask for. We just have to keep focusing on swimming fast and getting into the finals,” said Conklin. “We’re halfway home, but there’s lots of work and swims still ahead of us. It’s going to be a dogfight, but I feel we are focused and up to the challenge.”

Jamestown looks to build on their lead in both the men’s and women’s events when things get back underway from the Sunshine State this morning at 9:30.