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Women's Swimming Nona Letuligasenoa

Four Lead @NanooksSwim in Final Day of Husky Invite

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – On Sunday, the Alaska Nanooks swim team competed in their third and final day of racing at the Husky Invitational at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Washington. The Nanooks had a weekend-best of four swimmers advancing to the finals in two events.

"The ladies did a phenomenal job this weekend at the Husky Invite," associate head coach Becca Weiland said on Sunday. "We tallied numerous personal-best times today and finished the meet with four individuals returning for the finals tonight. With how well this meet went this last weekend, I'm very excited to see what we can do in February at the conference championships. Congratulations to all of our Nanook swimmers this weekend."

In their first event of the day, senior Cassidy Kelly was the lone Alaska swimmer in the 200-yard backstroke. Kelly tallied a time of 2:26.97 to rank 122nd overall.

In a field of 269 swimmers, freshman Kaia Norbye placed seventh overall in the 100-yard freestyle preliminary race with an impressive time of 52.17. Norbye advanced to the finals later Sunday evening to finish sixth overall with a time of 52.24.

Sophomore Oda Bygdnes also boasted a top-20 finish in the 100 free preliminary race, finishing 15th overall with a time of 52.44, a personal-best. In the finals heat, Bygdnes ranked 13th with a time of 52.51.

Freshman Wanlaya Jarupakorn qualified for her first individual final of the weekend in the same event, finishing 41st in the preliminary race with a time of 53.51 before placing 20th in the finals with a time of 53.31.

Also competing in the 100-yard freestyle was freshman Whitney McArthur (55.13) and junior Claire McElroy (56.40), who both registered season-best times in the event.

McElroy had a quick turnaround and raced in the 200-yard breaststroke, posting a preliminary time of 2:27.93 to rank 43rd overall. McElroy's time advanced her to the finals where she posted a season-best time of 2:26.96 to rank 27th overall.

In their only relay of the day, Alaska placed 10th in the 400-yard freestyle relay courtesy of Norbye, Bygdnes, McArthur and Jarupakorn. The Nanooks posted a time of 3:35.11.

Freshman Camille Dayton placed first among her teammates, 13th overall in the 1650-yard freestyle race, boasting a career-best time of 17:50.76. Dayton's time on Sunday was 16 seconds faster than her previous personal-best time.

Rounding-out Alaska's top three in the 1650 free were seniors Sierra Kinworthy (18:12.97) and Cassidy Heaton (18:30.40), placing 29th and 39th overall, respectively.

Sophomore Rachel Beal also registered a career-best in the 1000-yard freestyle, posting a time of 10:44.62, seven seconds quicker than her previous personal-best.

The Alaska Nanooks swim team will take a break from competition for the holidays and will return to the pool Jan. 11-12 to participate in the LMU Lion's Cup, hosted by Loyola Marymount University at the LMU Aquatic Center in Los Angeles.

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

Rachel Beal

Rachel Beal

Back/Free/IM
Sophomore
So.
Oda Bygdnes

Oda Bygdnes

Fly/Free
Sophomore
So.
Claire McElroy

Claire McElroy

Breast/Free
Junior
Jr.
Wanlaya Jarupakorn

Wanlaya Jarupakorn

Fly/Free
Freshman
Fr.
Camille Dayton

Camille Dayton

Free
Freshman
Fr.
Whitney McArthur

Whitney McArthur

Breast/Free
Freshman
Fr.
Kaia Norbye

Kaia Norbye

Breast/Free
Freshman
Fr.

Players Mentioned

Rachel Beal

Rachel Beal

Sophomore
So.
Back/Free/IM
Oda Bygdnes

Oda Bygdnes

Sophomore
So.
Fly/Free
Claire McElroy

Claire McElroy

Junior
Jr.
Breast/Free
Wanlaya Jarupakorn

Wanlaya Jarupakorn

Freshman
Fr.
Fly/Free
Camille Dayton

Camille Dayton

Freshman
Fr.
Free
Whitney McArthur

Whitney McArthur

Freshman
Fr.
Breast/Free
Kaia Norbye

Kaia Norbye

Freshman
Fr.
Breast/Free