Results
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – On Friday, the Alaska Nanooks swim team opened the 2016-17 season with a loss, after falling 742-661 to Drury University,  one of the best NCAA DII swim teams in the country, at the Patty Center Pool.
"Drury was as good as they were advertised. I brought them up here to give us a test early on and that's exactly what happened," head coach Scott Lemley said following the meet. "They are arguably the best Division II women's team in NCAA history, but our swimmers still stepped up to the competition and swam very well. They all knew going into tonight's meet that they were competing against the defending national champion in the 50 freestyle and the probable national champion in the 100 breaststroke and 200 IM. We know tomorrow will bring more of the same and we'll be ready."
The Nanooks won three of the 11 events held on Friday evening, including the 400-yard medley relay, the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Senior Victoria Adams, senior Nga Nguyen, junior Martha Hood and sophomore Katie Stark won the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:56.19, a 00:00:01.3 lead over Drury's four-some of Katya Rudenko, Lyndsey Baker, Sophia Nelson and Chrysoula Karamanou. Drury's "B" group took third place in the relay with a time of 4:06.81, while Alaska's "B" group of freshman Abigail Angaiak, Claire McElroy, Noelle Graham and Rachel Crosley placed fourth with a time of 4:13.34.
Drury captured first place in the women's 1000-yard freestyle, the 200-yard freestyle, the 50-yard freestyle, the 200-yard IM, the 100-yard butterfly, the 100-yard freestyle, the 100-yard backstroke and the 500-yard freestyle before senior Nga Nguyen captured the 100-yard backstroke title.
Nguyen placed first amongst her teammates in the 100-yard breaststroke, posting a time of 1:06.32, while sophomore Kate Mathews placed second with a time of 1:08.48. Sophomore Claire McElroy placed third among the seven swimmers, with a time of 1:11.60.
In the final event of the night, Alaska dominated the 200-yard freestyle relay, capturing first and second place in the four-team race. Junior Noelle Graham, Heaton, Mathews and Nguyen handily won the relay with a time of 1:41.74. The second group of Nanooks, which consisted of sophomore Sierra Kinworthy, freshman Ava Parrish, sophomore Abby Blackstone and freshman Melinda Farmer came in second with a time of 1:49.89.
The Alaska Nanooks swim team takes on Drury tomorrow afternoon (Oct. 22) at noon at the Patty Center Pool.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks swim team, follow @NanooksSwim on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Swim team page on Facebook.
