Results
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Blue team mounted a 318-297 win over the Gold team in the Alaska Nanooks swim team's annual Blue/Gold Pentathlon on Saturday afternoon at the Patty Center Pool.
The event featured one 200-yrd medley relay and five individual 100-yrd relays in the butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle and individual medley, as head coach Scott Lemley tested the stamina and endurance of his 2016-17 Nanooks team.
"This is not a normal swim meet and I even announced it to the crowd afterward, that no one swims meets like this," Lemley said on Saturday. "Our swimmers are very fit right now even so, they were literally crawling out of the pool at the end, which is precisely why I set up the Blue/Gold this way. I want to see who can preserve through the accumulation of 30 minutes of sprinting and building up so much lactic acid in their muscles, they're essentially shutting down. I'm proud of the way they overcame their exhaustion today."
The 2016-17 Nanooks were split into two teams for the meet, with every swimmer racing in each event. The Blue team comprised of Captain Cassidy Kelly, Kate Mathews, Martha Hood, Katie Stark, Cassidy Heaton, Melinda Farmer, Ava Parrish and Rachel Crosley, while the Gold team was made up of Captain Noelle Graham, Victoria Adams, Nga Nguyen, Sierra Kinworthy, Abigail Angaiak, Abby Blackstone, Claire McElroy and Lilly Harris.
Junior Martha Hood from team Blue proved to be the best swimmer overall on Saturday afternoon, posting the lowest combined time from the individual events at 5:18.02. Hood ranked first in the 100-yrd butterfly and the 100-yrd individual medley with times of 0:59.43 and 1:02.76, respectively.
"The winner was Martha Hood, who won this event her freshman year," Lemley concluded. "Congrats to all the girls for getting up and racing with no rest."
Senior Victoria Adams placed second overall behind Hood, posting a combined total time of 5:22.78. As the Gold team's best swimmer, Adams placed first in the 100-yrd backstroke and second in the 100-yrd freestyle.
Senior Nga Nguyen ranked first in the 100-yrd breaststroke, posting a time of 1:07.31, a full five-second lead behind junior Kate Mathews, who ranked second with a time of 1:12.96. Junior Katie Stark placed first overall in the 100-yrd freestyle with a time of 0:55.19, barely edging out sophomore Cassidy Heaton, who came in second in the event with a time of 0:56.86.
The Alaska Nanooks swim team officially opens their season on Oct. 21-22 with a two-day meet against Drury University at the Patty Center Pool. Friday's meet beings at 6:00 p.m. AKT, while Saturday is slated for noon AKT.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks swim team, follow @NanooksSwim on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Swim team page on Facebook.
