GRINNELL, Iowa -- Lawrence University diving standout Jackson Bertman was named the Diver of the Year at the conclusion of the MIdwest Conference Championships, which wrapped up Sunday at Osgood Pool.
    Bertman, a junior, earned the Diver of the Year award for the third consecutive season. Bertman swept the 3-meter and 1-meter diving titles at the championships on Friday and Saturday. Bertman broke both Lawrence records on his way to winning the diving crowns. 
    "Jackson had the goal of winning both boards," Lawrence coach Jody Riskowski said. "The 3-meter wasn't even close, and he had the school record after 10 dives. The competition in 1-meter was closer after the first eight dives, but he pulled away on the 10th. It was great to see his dives all come together."
    Will Phillips led Lawrence on Sunday by breaking his own school record in the 100-yard freestyle. Phillips broke his record of 47.24 seconds in the preliminaries and then lowered it to 45.86 seconds on his way to placing fifth in the 100 freestyle finals. 
    Phillips also swam on the 400 freestyle relay team that broke the school record. Phillips teamed with Wiley Curtis, Keegan Mencke and Sebastian Stacey to finish fourth with a time of 3:10.47. That broke the record of 3:11.81 set back in 2011.
    "Will, Sebastian and Wiley are now the top-three swimmers in the 100 free at Lawrence as each would have broken the prior record. Will just beat them to it," Riskowski said. "It was great to see them to come together and race the clock to beat the 400 free relay record." 
    Michael Thorson grabbed a pair of top-six finishes for the Vikings on Sunday. Thorson took fifth in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 17:28.17 and then grabbed sixth in the 200 backstroke in 1:58.93.
    The Lawrence men finished fifth in the team standings with 317.5 points, and Grinnell College won the title with 950.5.
    "On the men's side, the story of the season has been what can they do with the small squad, and right before we left, the squad became smaller with one out with the flu," Riskowski said. "Everyone had to come together, and Jackson even had the opportunity to be on a relay after his 1-meter dive win." 
    On the women's side, Irina Starostin placed eighth in the 100 freestyle in 57.43 seconds. The 400 freestyle relay team of Stella Macfarlane, Abigail Herric, Kiran Jayasinghe and Zoey Ziegler swam to sixth place in 3:47.77.
    The Lawrence women finished fifth in the team standings with 246 points, and Grinnell took the title with 929.
    "On the women's side, there were some amazing swims with most having at least one lifetime best swim. The list is too numerous, and it's great to see them working to be better technical and tactical swimmers," Riskowski said.
    "The goal in swimming and diving is to have peak performances at the end of the season, and nearly everyone is walking away with a personal record. We'd had the flu go around the team a couple weeks ago, and unfortunately it came around a second time, meaning some were fighting though being sick while doing their best to compete."