Results
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks dominated the Patty Center Pool on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Azusa Pacific University Cougars 124-81 in a Pacific Collegiate Swimming and Diving Conference (PCSC) meet. The Nooks placed first in each of the 11 events on the day, including both relays.
"The big story today, like it was yesterday, is how well sophomore
Cassidy Heaton is swimming. Yesterday she achieved the team's first NCAA "B" time standard of the season in her 1000 freestyle, which was 10:27.87 marking her personal best," head coach
Scott Lemley said on Saturday. "The NCAA "B" cut is a national championships "provisional" qualifying time. A time which is "automatically" fast enough to qualify a swimmer for the national championships are called an NCAA "A" cut. Today Cassidy achieved her second NCAA "B" cut of the season, this time in the 1650 free. She's our highest nationally ranked swimmer currently having the 6th fastest mile in the country. She's also highly nationally ranked in the 1000 free (7th) and the 500 free (12th)."
The successful day started out with a win in the 200-yard medley relay where seniors
Victoria Adams and
Nga Nguyen and juniors
Noelle Graham and
Martha Hood placed first with a time of 1:50.74. Azusa Pacific placed second with a finishing time of 1:54.63, while Alaska's younger squad of freshmen
Abigail Angaiak,
Claire McElroy,
Ava Parrish and sophomore
Rachel Crosley placed fourth with a time of 2:00.48.
Sophomore
Cassidy Heaton handily won the 1,650-yard freestyle event with a time of 17:37.85. Azusa's Tamara Miller placed second overall (18:02.76), a full 25 seconds behind Heaton. Alaska's
Sierra Kinworthy (18:11.29) and
Abby Blackstone (19:22.39) placed fourth and fifth in the event, respectively. Heaton won her second individual event of the day in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing with a six second lead over second place with a final time of 5:13.33. Azusa's Rosealee Santa Ana finished second with a time of 5:19.22.
Junior
Katie Stark placed first overall in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing at 1:58.62. Azusa's Bailie Caroll finished only three seconds behind Stark (2:01.29), while Graham and McElroy placed fifth and sixth, respectively. Stark's second individual win of the day came in the 100-yard freestyle, placing first with a time of 54.18. Nguyen (0:57.51) and Crosley (0:59.27) rounded out the top-six.
In the 50-yard freestyle, Hood placed first overall with a time of 0:24.97. Crosley (0:27.20) and freshman
Lilly Harris (0:28.34) placed fifth and sixth, respectively.
Adams ranked first once again, finishing the 400-yard IM the fastest time of 4:41.45. Azusa's Abigail Wiet finished second overall with a time of 4:44.73, while Kinworthy finished third at 4:59.34. Freshman
Melinda Farmer placed fifth overall with a time of 5:07.30. Adams won her third event of the da in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:09.28, barely edging out her own teammate
Martha Hood, who posted a time of 2:09.52.
"
Victoria Adams is our next highest nationally ranked swimmer, currently 8th in the nation in the 100 backstroke. She's our varsity record holder in the 200 IM and is currently ranked 17th in the country in that event," Lemley said of his senior. "These are events in which she is likely to be selected to compete at nationals. Victoria is also part of our 400 medley relay team which is currently ranked 4th in the nation (
Victoria Adams, backstroke;
Nga Nguyen, breaststroke;
Martha Hood, butterfly; and
Katie Stark, freestyle."
The 200-yard butterfly was a breeze for junior
Kate Mathews, who easily swam to a time of 2:12.72, ranking her first overall. Rookie Parrish placed fifth overall with a time of 2:49.39. Mathews won her second event of the day, placing first in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:29.11. Farmer (2:38.10) and McElroy (2:43.21) placed third and fifth, respectively.
The day concluded with a Nanook win in the 400-yard freestyle relay, when Nguyen, Graham, Stark and Mathews led the pool with a time of 3:39.48. The Nooks were four seconds behind the Azusa relay team until Stark entered the pool, as she made up the time and took the lead from that point onward. Alaska's other relay team of Heaton, Angaiak, Blackstone and Kinworthy placed fourth overall with a time of 3:51.82.
The Alaska Nanooks swim team is back in action Nov. 11 and 12, as they host Concordia Irvine at the Patty Center Pool. Friday's meet begins at 6pm AKT, while Saturday's is slated for noon AKT.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks swim team, follow @NanooksSwim on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Swimming team page on Facebook.
