GRINNELL, Iowa -- Lawrence University diving star Jackson Bertman broke the school record Friday on his way to winning the title on the 3-meter board at the Midwest Conference Championships.
    Bertman was a runaway winner at Osgood Pool with a score of 494.25, nearly 53 points better than the second-place finisher, Owen Pittenger of St. Norbert College. Bertman, who recorded an NCAA "B" cut, shattered the Lawrence record of 422.60 set by Jeff Brown in 2006.
    This is the second time Bertman has won the 3-meter title at the league championships. Bertman, who took the 3-meter crown in 2023, now has three conference titles to his credit.
    On the women's side, Olivia Martin took fifth on the 1-meter board with a score of 264.55.
    The other top individual finishers for the Vikings on Friday both came in the 50-yard freestyle. Will Phillips broke the school record as he took fourth in the event with a time of 21.08 seconds. Phillips topped the mark of 21.27 set by Patrick McCrory back in 2006. Irina Starostin was fourth in the women's 50 free with a time of 24.39 seconds.
    The women's 400 medley relay team of Starostin, Stella Macfarlane, Zoey Ziegler and Kiran Jayasinghe took third in 4:06.85. The same team placed fourth in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:41.09.
    The men's 400 medley relay team of Michael Thorson, Curtis Wiley, Sebastian Stacey and Phillips took fourth in 3:33.42. The 200 freestyle relay team of Curtis, Phillips, Stacey and Keegan Mencke grabbed fourth in 1:26.92.
    The men's 800 freestyle relay team of Curtis, Mencke, Stacey and Phillips took third in 7:05.16 in the only event contested on Thursday night. The women's 800 freestyle relay team of Ella Lee, Kristyn Landon, Lilly Lum and Matilda Ramont took eighth in 8:58.06.
    Both Lawrence teams are in fifth place after Friday's competition. The men have 135 points, and the women have 123. The competition runs through Sunday.