GRINNELL, Iowa - The Coe College women's swimming and diving team turned in its best performance of the season Friday night on the first day of the Grinnell Invite.  The Kohawks will enter the second day sitting in second place in the 12-team field.

The Kohawks scored 40 early points with a third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay.  Coe's team of  sophomore Ariana Uding (Chicago, Ill./Whitney M. Young), sophomore Andi Queisner (Fort Madison, Iowa/Fort Madison), freshman Erica Czajka (Denver, Colo./George Washington) and freshman Kenni Sterns (Longmont, Colo./Silver Creek) finished in 1:44.53, less than a second behind the top two teams from William Jewell and Loras.

in the 500-yard freestyle, Sterns placed ninth in 5:43.68, earning the Kohawks 14 points.  Sterns added 17 points to the Kohawks total with a sixth-place finish in the 200-yard IM.  Her time of 2:22.31 was a season best by nearly two seconds.

Coe placed two in the top five in the 50-yard freestyle, Czajka was fourth in :25.95 and Uding placed fifth in :26.02.  The Kohawks also got team points from Queisner and Sterns in the 50-yard freestyle.  Queisner placed 17th in :26.81, while Sterns was 19th in :26.94.  

Coe's team of Sterns, Queisner, Czajka and Uding placed fifth in the 400-yard medley relay in 4:26.80, adding 36 points to Coe's score.  The Kohawks had a second team finish in the top-15 of the 400-yard medley relay, as sophomore Haley Otis (Des Moines, Iowa/Dowling), junior Kelly Strohm (Cherry Hills Village, Colo./Regis Jesuit), junior Rebekah Isack (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) and freshman Mickey Meyer (Dubuque, Iowa/Hempstead) finished in 4:42.27, placing 15th.  A third team for the Kohawks with freshman Shannon Loria (Palatine, Ill./William Fremd), senior Amanda Ickes (Marion, Iowa/Xavier), freshman Nichole Lattin (Monroe, Wis./Monroe) and freshman Lindsay Meade (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Kennedy) was 17th in 4:48.71.

On the diving boards, junior Rebecca Herman (Iowa City, Iowa/West) turned in the fifth best score in school history in the three-meter dive.  Her score of 364.20 placed her second in the event.  Junior Elizabeth Curley (Omaha, Neb./Millard West) was third with a score of 334.  In the men's three-meter dive, junior Ken Otton (Mesa, Ariz./Skyline) was third with a score of 244.90.

Grinnell leads the meet for both the men and the women.  The Pioneer women have 241 points, while Coe is second with 191.  Coe has a 14 point lead on William Jewel.  On the men's side, the Pioneers lead with 347 points.  Coe is 13th with 36 points, trailing Beloit by 10 points.