INDIANAPOLIS — Perhaps more than in any other sport, the margins in swimming can be painfully slim sometimes. On Thursday morning, five hundredths of a second were all that separated Celeste Hollis from a chance at becoming an All-American.

The Franklin College junior placed 18th in the 100-yard butterfly preliminaries during day two of the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships, posting a time of 55.56 seconds. The top 16 swimmers advance to finals and earn All-America distinction; Hollis, who came in as the No. 17 seed, was just .05 seconds behind the 16th-place swimmer.

Swimming in what turned out to be the fastest of the seven prelim heats, Hollis covered her first 50 yards in 25.83 seconds and held strong on the back half. Her time had her 14th going into the final heat before she was pushed down by four swimmers in that group.

Hollis, who opened her NCAA week with a 38th-place finish in the 50 freestyle on Wednesday (23.67 seconds), will finish out her season on Friday with the 200 butterfly, where she is seeded 35th. Teammate Kat Lundy will see her first action of the week Friday in the 100 backstroke before closing out with the 200 back on Saturday.