Prelim Results | Final Results

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – The Alaska Nanooks swim team kicked-off their first road trip of the season on Friday morning in the first day of the Husky Invitational at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Washington.

The day was highlighted by redshirt-freshman Kaia Norbye posting a 50-yard freestyle time of 23.64, placing second overall in the preliminary races in a field of 228 swimmers. Norbye's preliminary time was only 00:00.03 off first place.

Norbye was the only Alaska swimmer to qualify for the finals later that night, posting a fourth place overall finish with a time of 23.48. Norbye's finals time was a lifetime best, putting her under the NCAA "B"-cut qualifying time.

"The Nanooks swam lights-out today, Kaia Norbye finished under the NCAA B time standard in her 50 free and there were multiple lifetime-best swims," associate head coach Becca Weiland said on Friday. "We are very proud of our performances today and we are even more excited to see how we swim tomorrow."

In the 50-yard freestyle preliminary race earlier in the day, sophomore Oda Bygdnes was the second-fastest Nanook, placing 46th overall with a time of 24.53. Rookie Whitney McArthur placed 50th overall with a time of 24.55 (half a second faster for a new personal-best), followed by fellow freshman Wanlaya Jarupakorn, who posted a time of 25.03 to rank 95th overall.

Alaska kicked-off the day with the 200-yard freestyle relay, placing seventh overall with a combined time of 1:36.91. Alaska's relay team consisted of Norbye, Bygdnes, McArthur and Jarupakorn.

In the 500-yard freestyle race, Alaska was led by senior Cassidy Heaton, who placed 39th overall with a time of 5:10.6. Heaton was followed by senior Sierra Kinworthy, whose time of 5:14.97 ranked her 56th overall. Rounding-out Alaska's top-three swimmers in the distance freestyle was sophomore Rachel Beal, who placed 63rd overall with a personal-best time of 5:17.24.

Freshman Camille Dayton also swam in the 500-yard free, posting a time of 5:21.20, followed by senior Cassidy Kelly, who tallied a time of 5:31.95.

Alaska competed in the 200-yard individual medley, led by Bygdnes, who ranked 19th overall with a time of 2:08.29. Sophomore Erika Kakazu also swam in the 200 IM, totaling a time of 2:11.33 to rank 50th overall in the prelims. Junior Claire McElroy's time of 2:18.16 is a new career-best time, shaving off five seconds from her previous record.

The Nanooks closed out day one of the Husky Invite with the 400-yard medley relay, posting a season-best time courtesy of Kakazu, Norbye, Bygdnes and Jarupakorn.

The Alaska Nanooks swim team will be back in action at the King County Aquatic Center tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 1) for day two of the Husky Invitational.

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