With a record-breaking time, junior Reed Dalton became just the fifth Washington University swimmer to capture a national title by racing to first in the 100-yard butterfly.

Junior Reed Dalton swims in the 100-yard butterfly race on Thursday at the national championship in Shenandoah, Texas. Dalton won the event with a national-record time and earned All-America honors in the event for the third straight year.

Dalton’s win headlined the men’s team’s sixth-place finish out of 52 scoring teams in the 2015 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Shenandoah, Texas, from March 18-21. Meanwhile, the women’s team notched eighth place to ensure that both the men’s and women’s squads would finish in the top 10 for just the fourth time in school history.

By the conclusion of the national meet, the men’s and women’s teams had combined for 23 All-America and All-America honorable mention finishes in 22 events while setting nine school records.

Even with Dalton’s preliminary time of 47.1 seconds in his top event already surpassing the previous NCAA Division III record, he bested his previous performance by over one-tenth of a second to record a finals time of 46.97, more than half a second ahead of the runner up. Head coach Brad Shivley recalled reminding Dalton to concentrate on technique over speed before his record-breaking race.

“He needed to go into the championship swim and not be focused on the time, but on the process,” Shivley said. “If he took care of the process and focused on the details…[he would] have the opportunity to be a national champion. If the time is better, as good or even slower, you’ve accomplished what you went out there to do, and that’s win a national title.”

For good measure, Dalton also added a sixth-place finish in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:48.07, breaking the existing school record by over two seconds.

Dalton joins sophomore teammate Michael Lagieski, who won a national title in 2014 in the 100 breaststroke, as the most recent Bears swimmers to clinch an individual championship.

Lagieski followed up his national title from a season ago with a second-place finish in the event this year. Although he swam a 54.11, only .01 seconds slower than his pace a season ago, Lagieski’s record was shattered by 2.39 seconds by an Emory University swimmer.

“It is a little bit disappointing, but I have to control what I can control,” Lagieski said. “The guy that won had an amazing year and I just tip my hat off to him…I had a good time, but he had a historic time.”

Later in the meet, Lagieski added to his All-American honors by finishing in third place in the 200 breaststroke with a school-record time of 1:59.80.

Junior Kristalyn McAfee swims in the women’s 800-free relay on Friday at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Shenandoah, Texas. The relay team finished third and recorded a time of 7:20.35, breaking the school record by more than five seconds.

The men’s team also managed to set another school record in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:16.37. Sporting a team of senior Matt Nutter, sophomore Justin Morrell, Dalton and Lagieski, the Bears placed fifth overall and achieved All-American honors in addition to etching their names in Wash. U.’s record book.

Other notable contributors included senior Zane Turpin, who garnered All-American honors for his sixth-place performance in the 1,650 freestyle, and sophomore Andrew Ellison, who placed 10th in the same event for his first career All-America honorable mention finish.

On the women’s side, junior Kristalyn McAfee recorded the highest individual finish for the women’s team by placing fifth in the 200 freestyle. With a time of 1:49.60, McAfee broke her own school record and picked up All-American honors in the race for the third year in a row.

In the 100 butterfly, freshman Niamh O’Grady finished in seventh place and set a school record in the preliminary round with a time of 55.55. O’Grady also found success in the 200 individual medley, finishing 16th overall.

Senior Sara Taege enjoyed a strong meet on the individual level, finishing 14th in the 400 individual medley and 11th overall in the 500 freestyle. In the 800 freestyle relay, Taege, McAfee, O’Grady and sophomore MariMac Collins teamed up to for a third-place performance that set a new school record with a time of 7:20.35.

Overall, the Bears continued their team-wide improvement over the past few years. While the women placed eighth overall for the second consecutive year, the men improved to sixth from 13th a year ago. In 2013, both teams placed outside the top 10, with the men all the way back in 21st.

“I am really a blessed guy to have the opportunity to be able to work with a lot of really special young men and women,” Shivley said. “Those guys really have a competitive spirit and a fight in them, and I think it drives them to the national stage.”