FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks swim team officially opens up the 2022-23 season tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 21 and Saturday, Oct. 22 with Azusa Pacific coming to town. The races will take place in the Patty Center Pool and start at 5:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m.

Friday, Oct. 21
Azusa Pacific | Live Video
5:00 p.m. | Patty Center Pool | Fairbanks, Alaska

Saturday, Oct. 22
Azusa Pacific | Live Video
10:00 a.m. | Patty Center Pool | Fairbanks, Alaska

Last Time Out
The Alaska Nanook swim team completed their annual Blue/Gold Meet on Saturday, Oct. 1. The Blue Team grabbed the win, knocking-off the Gold Team 168-151. 

Team Blue entered the day with a slim advantage over Team Gold, 74-71. 

Day Two was made up of 9 events; 50-yard butterfly, 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 500-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly, 50-yard backstroke, 200-yard IM, and 200-yard freestyle relay. 

In event one of the day, the 9th of the Blue/Gold Meet, Adeline Berry got the Gold Team started, winning the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 28.36. Shannon McCallum and Sophia Ruppert gained the Gold Team two more victories over the next three events, with McCallum winning the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:22.03. Ruppert secured her victory in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:43.17. Lioi Lainey's victory in the 100-yard freestyle broke Team Gold's streak of wins, winning with a time of 57.34. 

In the fifth event of the day, Ali Pecore won the 500-yard freestyle for the Blue Team, securing a time of 5:29.70. Team Gold secured another win in the sixth event of the day, as Adeline Berry won the 100-yard butterfly, with a time of 1:03.76. 

Lainey and Ruppert would both add more wins to their resumes and their teams in the next two events. As Lainey won the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 30.48. Ruppert won the 200-yard IM for Team Gold, posting a time of 2:20.30. 

In the final event, the Blue Team took the 200-yard freestyle relay in just under a second over the Gold Team. 

Quick Hitters

• The Nanooks are opening their regular-season after ending last season seventh at the PCSC Championships in St. George, Utah. 
• Alaska looks to replicate their start from a year ago. They opened the 2021-22 season 4-0 in dual meets, their best start since the programs resumption in 2005. 
• The Nanooks welcome four newcomers for the 2022-23 season. Kaidance Sample, Emma Seward and Cameron Valent will all debut for the blue and gold this weekend. 
• This weekend's dual meets can be found on the Alaska Nanooks YouTube page. Night one will begin at 4:45 p.m. with day two beginning at 9:45 a.m.
• Azusa Pacific returns to Fairbanks for the first time since the 2019-20 season. 
• APU took two wins from Alaska, defeating the 'Nooks on Oct. 18, 2019 114-91 before finishing the weekend off with a second win on Oct. 19, 2019. They won that dual meet 110-94.
• This will be the Nanooks' only home meet in 2022. They'll return home on Jan. 20-21, 2023 when Westmont College visits Fairbanks. 

What's to Come
Following this weekend's pair of meets, the Nanooks will take to the road for the remainder of 2022. They'll travel to Santa Barbara, Calif. for a matchup with Westmont College on Oct. 28-29. Three weeks later, Nov. 18-20, the Nanooks will head to the La Verne Invitational in La Verne, Calif. That will end their 2022 portion of the schedule. 

They'll return home on Jan. 20-21, 2023 with Westmont before going to the PCSC Championships on Feb. 8-11, 2023 in Los Angeles, Calif. 

Meet the Coaches
Kelsey Leeson returns for her fourth year with the Alaska Nanooks swim team. After spending the 2021-22 season as the interim head coach, she moves back into her role as the assistant coach with the hiring of Ksenia Gromova. Gromova takes over for Leeson after she stepped into the position following the departure of former coach Cam Kainer. Gromova joins the Nanooks after spending 2021-22 with the Michigan Wolverines as a volunteer assistant. She has made stops along her career at Michigan, Duquesne University, Lindenwood Belleville, Incarnate Word and has spent time with clubs. 

Leeson is in her fourth season and this will be her third in the assistant coach position. She has been with the Nanooks since Aug. 2019. Prior to Fairbanks, she spent time as the assistant swim coach for the Juan Diego Catholic High School and the Summit Academy High School teams in Utah. Before then, she graduated from St. Cloud State in 2017 where she was a four-year member of the swim team. 

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