Day 1 Results | Day 1 Team Scores | Day 2 Results | Day 2 Team Scores

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks swim team suffered a series sweep at home against one of the most premier NCAA Division I programs in the nation, falling to the University of Incarnate Word Cardinals on both Friday and Saturday at the Patty Center Pool. Alaska fell 104-84 on Friday before dropping Saturday's meet 107-83 to UIW.

"UIW is the best Division I team we've competed against to date," head coach Scott Lemley said on Saturday. "Swimming against them is a great warm-up for our conference championships where we will face two Division I teams, in addition to some of the best DII teams in the country in Cal State East Bay, Freshno Pacific, Simon Fraser, UC San Diego and Azusa Pacific, who are regularly in the top-25 in the nation."

Friday, Jan. 26
In Friday's meet, Alaska captured first place in five of the 11 events, including four individual events and one relay. The Nanooks dropped the opening 400-yard medley relay, posting a time of 4:01.37 to place second to UIW's first-place finishing time of 3:53.95.

Alaska bounced back with a sweep of both first and second place in the 1,000-yard freestyle, with junior Cassidy Heaton placing first overall with a time of 10:42.60. Following closely behind was fellow junior Sierra Kinworthy, who tallied a time of 10:58.12 to place second.

In the 200-yard freestyle, senior Katie Stark placed third with a time of 1:57.12, while rookie Oda Bygdnes was the fastest Nook in the 50-yard freestyle, registering a time of 25.20. Senior Kate Mathews collected a 200-yard individual medley time of 2:13.72 to place second, while Bygdnes was barely edged out of first place in the 100-yard butterfly, tallying a time of 57.67, while UIW's Cassie Phillips touched-out at 57.10.

Alaska swept the remaining three individual events, led-off by rookie Erika Kakazu, who posted a 100-yard backstroke time of 1:01.19. In the 500-yard freestyle, Heaton placed first with a time of 5:14.64, while fellow senior Claire McElroy was the fastest swimmer in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:10.89.

Alaska placed first in the final event on Friday, posting a time of 1:49.79 in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Alaska's relay squad consisted of Heaton, Kinworthy, sophomore Lilly Harris and sophomore Ava Parrish.

Saturday, Jan. 27
On Saturday, the Cardinals captured seven of the 11 total events, with Alaska placing first in three individual events and one relay. Stark was the first Alaska swimmer to place fist overall on Saturday, posting a time of 53.70 in the 100-yard freestyle.

In the 500-yard freestyle, Heaton easily swept the competition with a time of 5:13.01. McElroy captured the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:36.51.

In the 800-yard freestyle relay, Alaska's squad consisting of Heaton, junior Abby Blackstone, Kinworthy and junior Cassidy Kelly posted a first place time of 8:35.90.

In Saturday's 1,650-yard freestyle, Heaton placed second and Kinworthy placed third with time of 17:49.66 and 18:28.31, respectively. Stark proved to be the highest-placing Nanook in the 200-yard freestyle, collecting a time of 2:02.05.

Furthermore, Mathews was the highest-placing Alaska swimmer in both the 400-yard IM and the 200-yard butterfly, posting times of 4:43.32 and 2:14.76. Bygdnes placed second overall in the 50-yard freestyle, posting a time of 25.32.

"We had some very good swims this weekend, including a big win for Cassidy Heaton, who was the Nanooks' lone national qualifier last year in her signature event, the 1000-yard freestyle," Lemley concluded. "As good of a team as we are this year, that was the only win we came away with on Friday. Incarnate Word gave us everything we wanted and then some and that's why we brought them up here, to help us prepare for competition in one of the fastest Division II conference championships in the country. Our two seniors, Katie Stark and Kate Mathews accounted for a second and two thirds and our freshmen standouts Oda Bygdnes and Erika Kakazu, accounted for two more seconds in their best events."

The Alaska Nanooks swim team will be back in action Feb. 14-17, as they compete in the Pacific Collegiate Swimming and Diving Conference Championships at the Splash Aquatic Center in La Mirado, California.

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