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Lemley and Adams Interview
Preliminaries Recap
NCAA.com Feature
MANSFIELD, Texas – Freshman
Margot Adams (Anchorage, Alaska/Frontier Charter) went where no other Nanook swimmer had gone before as she earned the silver medal and national runner-up status in Thursday's championship final of the 100 butterfly at the 2012 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships at the Mansfield ISD Natatorium.
Adams turned in the single-best finish in program history at the championships en route to her second-place finish. She broke her own varsity record with a time of 54.96 seconds to earn All-America honors. Grand Canyon's
Mychala Lynch won the gold with a mark of 53.81, while Adams edged
Gloria Martinez Perez (55.07), who took the bronze.
The Anchorage native improved on her second-place finish from preliminaries, where she hit the wall in 55.08. She is also one of two Nanooks all-time to have raced in a championship final, joining
Mariya Pavlovskaya (eight-time All-American) in that prestigious category.
“It's just another swim meet,” Adams said with a laugh. “It's pretty cool.”
A woman of few words with a camera in front of her, head coach
Scott Lemley said that “she has lots of words, just not with the camera on.”
It was not the only excitement Alaska's swim team enjoyed Thursday evening during finals, as one other individual and one relay garnered Honorable Mention All-America accolades.
Sophomore
Bente Heller (Hamburg, Germany/Albrecht Thzer Gymnasium) repeated as Honorable Mention All-American for the second straight day after she placed 11th in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:51.60. She improved two spots from preliminaries and finished with a tad faster mark (1:51.93).
Alaska also obtained Honorable Mention All-America recognition in a relay event for the first time in program history as the tandem of freshman
Danielle Lyons (Prince Albert, Saskatchewan/St. Mary's), Adams, freshman
Gabi Summers (Cheyenne, Wyo./Central) and Heller took 14th in the 200 freestyle relay after finishing in 1:35.98. The group was 13th in prelims with a mark of 1:35.71 (varsity record).
“It's definitely a bi-product of the training,” Lemley said. “If they didn't train very well, they wouldn't swim very well. It's been nerve-wracking for all of them. It's going to be a good trip once we go home and deconstruct it. Most of the team is doing very well, learning from their mistakes and doing a better job the next time out.”
Earlier Thursday, Lyons nearly advanced to the consolation final of the 400 individual medley, but missed out by less than three tenths of a second as she was 17th in 4:30.88. She also took 25th in the 200 free with a time of 1:53.78.
Summers had a nice morning in the pool as she registered a pair of personal-best times. She completed the 400 individual medley in 4:32.39, nearly six seconds faster than her seeded time, which was good for 20th. She also placed 24th in the 200 free with a personal-best mark of 1:53.57.
The Nanooks moved up three spots to 18th place after day two with 38 points. A total of 32 teams have scored at the national meet with Wayne State leading Drury for first place by one point (261-260).
The championships resume Friday at 10:30 a.m., with finals following at 6 p.m.
Live results and live web streaming of the championships are available through NCAA.com.
After Adams' swim in the 100 fly, a couple of teammates had some things to say about Margot.
Danielle Lyons: “I know I have complete confidence in her every time she gets up on the block. I knew she would do well no matter what. It definitely makes me want to swim faster not only this weekend, but for next year. It makes me feel we can accomplish much more.”
Genevieve Johnson: “It was so exciting and I had goose bumps when I watched. It's fun to see a friend succeed. I'm excited to see where she goes over the next few years.”
