ROCKWALL, Texas – A pair of records were broken on day two of the Sun Belt Conference Swimming & Diving Championships as North Texas’ Catia Weickgenant broke her own mark in the 500 free and Florida Atlantic’s Eszter Bucz set the new SBC-best time in the 200 IM on Thursday at the Rockwall Aquatic Center.

The Mean Green took the lead in the overall standings with a score of 295, just above WKU’s 287. FIU sits in third with 236 points, followed by FAU at 174 and UALR with 117.

“We were solid in most events today, and really spectacular in the 500 free. To sweep the medals in that race is really impressive with scores in the 4:46 (seconds) and we scored big points in that event with two more girls scoring in the 4:57 (second range),” said North Texas head coach Joe Dykstra. “Our divers also came through today, making it in the top eight, and our 50 free and 200 IM were solid.”

Weickgenant, a senior from Dallas, Texas, touched the wall at a 4:46.01 in the 500 free which was one second faster than her first-place time of 4:47.01 last year at the SBC Championships. Teammates Kimmy Phillips and Jana Burkard finished second and third in the event and also eclipsed last year’s record with times of 4:46.23 and 4:46.27, respectively.

“I was ecstatic that I broke the record by exactly one second. It was really exciting, I back-halved it and it was fun to win it,” Weickgenant said. “This was a result of a lot of hard-work, dedication and good coaching over my career.”

In the 200 IM, Bucz, a senior from Budapest, Hungary, broke the record with a time 1:58.48. FIU sophomore Johanna Gustafsdottir, who set the record last season at 1:59.14, came in second at 1:59.36.

“I was extremely happy when I saw my time and I could barely believe it,” Bucz said. “This was the result of all the hard-work I’ve put in the last 18 years. This is my last SBC Championship and I wanted to finish with a good time.”

FIU tallied a pair of first-place finishes on the evening as sophomore Klara Andersson won the 50 free and junior Sabrina Beaupre, the reigning SBC Diver of the Year, came in first in the 3-meter diving with a 328.60 score.

Andersson stopped the clock at 23.24 to stand atop the podium, while WKU sophomore Paige Drazga took second at 23.27. FAU sophomore Frida Nilsson and WKU senior Hilary Mishler finished in third and fourth with respective times of 23.30 and 23.31.

Beaupre’s score came just shy of her record score of 328.65 that she set last season. She was a heavy favorite in the event after posting a 317.95 score in the prelims which was 28 points ahead of the next competitor. WKU senior Caitlin Dean tallied a 299.50 score to earn second and NT junior Catherine Johnson took third at 284.55.

In the final event of the evening, WKU came in first in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:32.55. Sophomore Paige Drazga got the Lady Toppers the lead after the first leg with a 23.40 time, and Mishler clocked in at 23.08 to close it. The Mean Green took second in the event, touching the wall at 1:33.55, followed by FIU with a 1:33.99 time.

Action resumes on Friday with the Prelims and Finals of the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back and 1-meter diving. Be sure to check http://www.sunbeltsports.org/CHAMPIONSHIPS/2012-2013Championships/Winter/WSwimmingDiving.aspx for all the latest results.