HOUSTON. -- Samantha Kephart just missed defending her title in the 100-yard Butterfly and Natalie Turner took 5th in the 200-yard Freestyle in Northwest Conference record time on Friday night at the 2007 NCAA Division III Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Houston.

Natalie Turner	Samantha Kephart

Kephart (Jr., Santa Maria, Calif.) placed second 100 Fly with a time of 55.70, just behind Marika Ross of Middlebury who won with a time of 55.59. Kephart, who won the event last season, managed to nearly defend her title after spending most of this season recovering from a severe back injury suffered over the summer. Kephart had qualified first in the morning preliminaries, ironically with a time of 55.59.

Turner (Fr., South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) finished fifth in the 200 Free with a time of 1:51.75, breaking her own Whitworth and NWC record of 1:52.76 she set at the conference championship meet last month. Becky Weima of Calvin won the event with a time of 1:49.79.

The pair have combined to score 41 points in the meet, currently 15th in the team standings.

On Saturday Kephart will try to defend another national title in the 200-yard Butterfly, while Turner competes in the 1,650-yard Freestyle.