Results

LA MIRADA, Calif. – At the conclusion of day one of the Pacific Collegiate Swimming and Diving Conference Championships, the Alaska Nanooks swim team currently sits in second place in the women's team rankings with 174 points. The Nooks competed in three events on Wednesday at the Splash! Aquatic Center in La Mirada, California.

The Nooks earned their first conference title in the 200-yard medley relay, their first PCSC Championship since the 2014-15 season where the Nooks placed first in the same event.

"The Nanooks swam exceptionally well tonight in our first session of the PCSC Championships, despite the unfavorable cold and rainy weather," associate head swim coach Becca Weiland said on Wednesday. "We racked up three career-best swims, a conference title in the 200 medley relay and numerous top-16 finishes. Tomorrow should be an even better day for the Nanooks with events in the 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley and the 50 freestyle."

Alaska's 200-yard medley relay team posted a time of 1:44.89 for 64 points, edging Fresno Pacific's relay team by 0:00.05 (1:44.94). The Nanooks' squad was led off by sophomore Erika Kakazu, followed by redshirt-freshman Kaia Norbye, sophomore Oda Bygdnes and anchored by freshman Whitney McArthur.

In the first event of the day, the 1,000-yard freestyle, senior Sierra Kinworthy was the first Nanook to finish with a time of 10:34.73. Kinworthy's time ranked her seventh overall in a field of 29 competitors. Kinworthy's time collected 23 points for the Nanooks and was only 23.02 behind Fresno Pacific's Luisa Roderweis, who placed first overall with a time of 10:11.71.

Fellow senior Cassidy Heaton also posted a top-10 finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle, placing ninth overall with a time of 10:37.32 for 20 points. Finishing within the top-15 was freshman Camille Dayton (10:41.16) and sophomore Rachel Beal (10:41.54), who placed 13th and 14th overall, respectively. Both Dayton and Beal's performances in the 1,000-yard freestyle were career-bests for the pair of Nooks.

The Nanooks closed-out day one of the PCSC Championships with the 800-yard freestyle relay, ranking ninth with a time of 8:23.81. The squad included freshman Wanlaya Jarupakorn, Heaton, Kinworthy and Dayton, who collected 40 points for the Nanooks.

The Alaska Nanooks swim team will compete in day two of the PCSC Championships tomorrow (Thursday, Feb. 14) at the Splash! Aquatic Center. Preliminary heats for the 500-yard freestyle, the 200-yard IM, the 50-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle relay begin at 8:30am AKST, while the finals begin at 3:35pm AKST.

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