HOBART, Ind. – College of Saint Mary turned in a strong opening day at the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championships on Thursday, placing three events in the top eight of the evening finals competition at the Hobart Aquatic Center.

The top finisher for the Flames in the finals was Kylee Brown, who grabbed fifth in the 500 freestyle in 5:14.64.

The 200 free relay team of Brown, Isabella Promes, Mia Gauvin and Jaidyn Vanschoiack placed sixth in 1:41.05. And the 400 medley relay team of Vanschoiack, Gauvin, Brown and Promes took seventh in 4:07.72.

CSM had two other entries in the finals, as Gauvin was 11^th in the 200 IM (2:14.44) and Promes placed 15^th in the 50 freestyle (25.61).

"It was an awesome first day for Flames swimming!'' CSM Coach Liz Germonprez said. "We had seven total personal-best swims, six total personal-best relay splits, two new national B-cuts and three season-best swims. Everyone raced today: themselves, the clock and their competition.''

CSM finished day one in seventh place among the 10 teams with 72 points. Bethel (Ind.) University held a slim 222-219 lead over five-time defending champion Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) University for first place.

Seven Flames were also honored Thursday as KCAC Scholar-Athletes: Brown, Vanschoiack, Juliet Balman, Gauvin, Autumn Neale, Naomi Huttenga and Hannah Steinmetz.

Competition will continue Friday and Saturday.

Here are the day one results for CSM athletes:

Thursday's Results

Prelims

200 free relay: CSM (Kylee Farson, Olivia Poole, Cailyn Nielsen, Juliet Balman) 1:48.22

500 freestyle: q6, Kylee Brown 5:19.20; 21, Addison Miller 5:46.03; 24, Hannah Steinmetz 5:50.82; 29, Emma B'Hymer 6:06.22; 31, Skylar Ned 6:18.38

200 IM: q14, Mia Gauvin 2:19.53; 20, Chloe Hale 2:24.19; 24, Naomi Huttenga 2:29.87

50 freestyle: q14, Isabella Promes 25.45; 22, Jaidyn Vanschoiack 26.45; 24, Kylee Farson 27.01; 27, Juliet Balman 27.40; 28, Cailyn Nielsen 27.59; 31, Olivia Poole 27.77; 42, Autumn Neale 31.64.

400 medley relay: CSM (Chloe Hale, Cailyn Nielsen, Naomi Huttenga, Hannah Steinmetz) 4:24.33

Finals

200 free relay: 6, CSM (Kylee Brown, Isabella Promes, Mia Gauvin, Jaidyn Vanschoiack) 1:41.05

500 freestyle: 5, Kylee Brown 5:14.64

200 IM: 11, Mia Gauvin 2:14.44

50 freestyle: 15, Isabella Promes 25.61

400 medley relay: 7, CSM (Jaidyn Vanschoiack, Mia Gauvin, Kylee Brown, Isabella Promes) 4:07.72