As each day passes at the Pacific Collegiate Swim & Dive Conference Championships, the Alaska swim team swims better. The Nanooks jumped to sixth place after day three with one day to swim Friday.
Three women made finals in the 400 Yard IM.
Mariya Pavlovskaya had the top performance, finishing second with a 4:28.95—her best conference championship time yet.
Courtney Miller finished 11th (4:43.50) and
Kyle Perkins finished 22nd (5:11.68).
Bente Heller led the Nanooks in the next event, the 100 Butterfly, with a third place finish at 57.83. The time marked a lifetime best and earned her her second medal of the meet.
Kelly Holt finished eighth and narrowly missed an NCAA “B” cut time with a 58.95 finish. The qualifying mark is 58.90.
Three swimmers placed in finals in the 200 Freestyle:
Kinsey Laine (11th, 1:59.67),
Heidi Tilicki (19th, 2:02.53) and
Meghan O'Leary (23rd, 2:03.90).
Sarah Meierotto and
Courtney Miller competed in the 100 Breaststroke. Miller swam in the bonus final (non-scoring) and finished 26th with a near lifetime best of 1:13.27. Meierotto finished in 18th place with a season-best 1:12.02.
Two swimmers qualified for finals in the 100 Backstroke. O'Leary finished 16th (1:03.05), while
Kendra Day finished 24th (1:06.59).
The Nanooks finished third in the final event of the day: the 400 Medley Relay. Pavlovskaya,
Courtney Nichols, Holt and Heller teamed for a 3:58.19. Pavlovskaya opened the relay with a 58.01 100 Backstroke—an NCAA “B” cut time. Because it was the first swim of the event, it could qualify her to swim at nationals. The team barely missed a “B” time as a whole.
