Meet Results
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - The Alaska women's swim broke another relay record as it was able to fend off Fresno Pacific and notch the weekend sweep with a 109-95 victory Saturday at the Patty Center.
The Nanooks foursome of sophomore
Bente Heller (Hamburg, Germany/Albrecht Thzer Gymnasium) and freshmen
Margot Adams (Anchorage, Alaska/Frontier Charter),
Danielle Lyons (Prince Albert, Saskatchewan/St. Mary's) and
Gabi Summers (Cheyenne, Wyo./Central) broke both the pool and varsity records in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3 minutes, 33.40 seconds.
“When you can break varsity records in an early-season dual meet, that's special,” head coach
Scott Lemley said. “These records were set by juniors and seniors and these are all freshmen with a couple sophomores. It bodes well for the next couple years.”
It is the second straight day that tandem broke both records in a relay event, as they set a new mark in the 200 free relay last night.
Heller also picked up two individual victories, while Lyons, Summers and sophomore
Ashley Crowe (Billings, Mont.) each picked up one win in their respective events.
Heller started off by taking the 50 free with a time of 24.19, winning the event by 1.26 seconds. She later won the 100 free with a mark of 51.96, which was six-hundredths of a second off the program record in that event.
Lyons cruised in the 500 free with a time of 5:17.14, as no other competitor was within five seconds of the rookie. Summers took the 400 individual medley after hitting the wall in 4:44.62, while Crowe won the 1,650 free by almost 21 seconds with a time of 18:01.68. Alaska took first and second places in four of the five individual victories. Adams was also second in the 100 free with a time of 52.60, which suprassed the NCAA B-cut standard.
For Fresno Pacific, Cheyenne Coffman shined once again as she won a pair of events. Coffman broke the pool record in the 200 backstroke as she completed the race in 2:06.32. That record bested the 2008 record set by Alaska's Mar Brunet (2:08.12). Earlier in the meet, she was victorious in the 200 free, taking the event in 1:56.04.
The Sunbirds also won the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:52.99 and Danielle Lavery took the 200 yard butterfly in 2:18.58, while Lauren Malthaner rounded out the wins for FPU in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:29.65.
Alaska will have a few weeks off before hitting the road for the first time this year when it competes in the Husky Invitational on Dec. 2-4 in Federal Way, Wash.
“The Husky is the real focus for the fall,” Lemley said. “It's huge competition in a very fast pool. If we're performing this way here, it speaks well with what we can accomplish when we get down to Seattle. We already have B-cuts, I'd love to see one of our swimmers get an A-cut.”
