FAIRBANKS, AK –Alaska Nanooks head coach
Scott Lemley announced the signing of three interior swimming recruits to National Letters of Intent. Brooke Underwood and Madison Franz of Fairbanks and Kyle Perkins of North Pole will enter the University of Alaska Fairbanks in the fall as freshmen with four years of NCAA eligibility remaining.
The three are the first to sign to Alaska Swimming's recruiting class of 2010.
Brooke Underwood
A four-year swimmer for the West Valley Wolfpack, Underwood was twice a member of the Girl's Region VI championship teams in 2008 and 2009. She was named the Wolfpack's Most Inspirational Swimmer this season, as voted by her teammates.
"I've been following Brooke's swimming throughout her high school career,” said Lemley. “From her freshman year until now she's made great strides, especially in the sprint freestyle. I'm not surprised her teammates voted her Most Inspirational. Her best time in the 50 free would have made our varsity top 10 list last year.”
Underwood has also participated in club swimming for eight years, splitting time with the Stingrays and the Midnight Sun programs local to Fairbanks.
“We're always looking to shore up our sprinters and next year is no different. We're really looking forward to adding Brooke to our sprint group."
Underwood plans to pursue a degree in psychology at UAF and possibly a minor in photography.
Madison Franz
Another Wolfpack standout, Franz will follow her teammate (Underwood) as they hit the water sporting Alaska Nanooks' swim caps beginning this fall. Franz also swam four seasons for West Valley specializing in long distances in the pool.
Franz was voted West Valley's Most Improved swimmer in 2007 and she showed how much she had improved this year, when she helped the Wolfpack capture the Region VI title this season by finishing third in the 500 yard freestyle at the Region VI Championships. Her time of 5:58.25 is good enough for sixth on Alaska's current depth chart.
“Maddy has shown steady improvement over the course of her high school career,” Lemley said. “From her 12th finish in the 500 free in 7:02.08 as a freshman to her 3rd place finish this season, she's dropped over a minute in that event.
Franz also swims locally in Fairbanks for the Midnight Sun Swim Team, racing in the mile, 500 freestyle and 100 backstroke, with career-best times of 5:58.23 in the 500 free and 20:28 in the mile.
“When we bring recruits on campus we get a real sense of who they are by spending time with them. When they finally get in the water with our team, we learn even more about them. Maddy swam very well during our practice and seemed to have a great time. That told me a lot right there. If she fits in during a practice, she'll fit in the whole season. We're really happy to welcome Madison to our team.”
Out of the water, Franz has aspirations of becoming a nurse or a physical therapist some day.
Kyle Perkins
Perkins comes to the Nanooks after swimming four seasons for the North Pole High School Patriots, where her specialty stokes included the backstroke and freestyle. She was a member of the Patriots swim team that captured the Region Championships in 2007. She was also an individual champion at the Region VI meet as a junior, making her an automatic state qualifier in 2008.
Her best time in the 100 backstroke of one minute and 8.90 seconds places her fifth on the Nanooks depth chart this season.
“Kyle is also a good freestyler and because three out of the five relays in college are freestyle relays, any time we can recruit a good freestyler it helps our depth,” Lemley said.
Perkins, who also participated in track and field as a senior at North Pole, also participated in club swimming with Midnight Sun for 12 years. She achieved her best club performance this spring, knocking three seconds off her 200 backstroke at 2:30.02.
“When we brought her to campus on a visit she seemed to fit in very well with our girls. We think that chemistry is so important in terms of everyone working well together. We're thrilled to have her on our team next year and look forward to adding more depth to our backstrokers.”
She would like to explore a career doing something in the medical field.
