Women's Swimming | 11/12/2016 12:11:00 AM

Results

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks swim team found themselves in their first tie of the season on Friday night, as both the Nooks and the Concordia-Irvine Eagles swam to a 102-102 tie at the Patty Pool. The meet counts as a Pacific Collegiate Swimming and Diving Conference matchup between the two schools, with the Nooks claiming six of the eleven events on the night.

 "Concordia certainly showed why they're a nationally ranked NAIA team tonight," head coach Scott Lemley said after Friday's meet. "They swam well tonight and gave us everything we could ask for in a competitor. We are swimming in some of our 'off' events this weekend, meaning our team got to pick what they wanted to swim in, and in some cases, chose events that didn't necessarily score us many points."

Alaska placed first in the 400-yrd medley relay, the 1,000-yrd freestyle, the 50-yrd freestyle, the 100-yrd freestyle, the 100-yrd backstroke, the 100-yrd breaststroke and the 200-yrd freestyle events, while the Eagles captured the 500-yrd freestyle, the 100-yrd butterfly, the 200-yrd IM and the 200-yrd freestyle in the 11 event night.

The Nanooks' nationally-ranked 400-yrd medley relay team placed first among their competitors, finishing almost a full-five seconds ahead of second place with a total time of 4:01.02. Alaska's 400 medley relay team comprises of senior Victoria Adams, senior Nga Nguyen, junior Noelle Graham and junior Katie Stark. Alaska's secondary 400 medley team of sophomore Cassidy Kelly, freshman Claire McElroy, freshman Ava Parrish and sophomore Rachel Crosley placed fourth with a time of 4:22.62.

Sophomore distance swimmer Cassidy Heaton continues to impress, with a first-place finish in the 1,000-yrd freestyle by posting a total time of 10:28.98, a full 20 seconds ahead of second place finisher, sophomore Sierra Kinworthy, who registered a time of 10:48.12.

Junior Kate Mathews also recorded a first-place finish for the Nanooks tonight, touching the wall at 0:25.25 in the 50-yrd freestyle to barely edge out Concordia's Megan Leckich, who finished at 0:25.33. Fellow Nanooks Nguyen, McElroy and Crosley placed fifth, sixth and seventh in the same event, respectively.

After falling to the Eagles in the following three events, junior Katie Stark captured the 100-yrd freestyle race with a time of 0:53.75, beating Concordia's Tatiana Padilla by 0:00.12 seconds (0:53.93). Crosley (0:58.20) and Parrish (1:03.72) also competed in the event and placed fifth and sixth, respectively.

Junior Martha Hood took home her first-place finish of the night in the 100-yrd backstroke, being the only swimmer in a heat of five others to finish under a minute. Hood's total time of 0:59.98 edged out Concordia's Heather Heacock, who posted a 1:00.59 finishing time.

Nguyen won her second event of the day in the 100-yrd breaststroke, with a time of 1:07.20, ahead of Concordia's Jessica Wilson who collected a final time of 1:08.30. McElroy (1:09.52) and freshman Melinda Farmer (1:11:57) also competed in the race, placing third and fourth, respectively.

In the final event of the night, it was the Nanooks who prevailed in 200-yrd freestyle relay, as Adams, Mathews, Graham and Hood placed first overall with a time of 1:38.80. Alaska's secondary team of Heaton, sophomore Abby Blackstone, Farmer and Parrish posted a time of 1:46.29 to place fourth.

"We're only a couple of weeks away from our biggest meet of the fall, where every swim counts, so this seemed like it was our chance to vary our line-up a little bit in different events." Lemley concluded. "What we learned tonight will help us in the future, even though we probably gave away 10-15 points in the progress. We're committed to doing the same thing tomorrow and If Concordia continues to swim well, they may beat us. In the sport of swimming, a team's win-loss record is meaningless. Moving on to conference and then to nationals rests on one thing and one thing only – your time. And tonight, we had some very fast times."

The Alaska Nanooks continue their two-day PCSC meet against the Concordia Eagles tomorrow, Nov. 12 starting at Noon AKST at the Patty Center Pool. The day will also be senior day to celebrate seniors Victoria Adams, Nguyen and junior Noelle Graham.

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks swim team, follow @NanooksSwim on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Swimming team page on Facebook.