FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks swim team fell in its season opener on Friday afternoon to San Diego State, 125-75.
Both sides swam in 11 events in the Patty Center pool, beginning with the 400-yard medley relay. San Diego State took first with a winning time of 3:48.33. The Nanooks took second place as a team of Charlotte Fletcher-Stables, Dorka Dancsok, Cosima Schmiedel and Sam Bristor finished with a 3:59.53. The second Nanooks team took third place with a time of 4:14.62. The second event was the 1000-yard freestyle, which saw the Aztecs take first. Tori Shoemaker was the Nanooks top finisher, finishing second with an 11:05.62. Naomi Burgan and Kylee Carter finished third and fourth.
The Nanooks grabbed their first victory in the following event: the 200-yard freestyle, as Schmiedel finished with a 1:29.50 to lead the pack. SDSU took second, and Ali Pecore and Fletcher-Stables placed third and fourth, respectively.
San Diego State took first in the 50-yard freestyle, with Janci Pangburn finishing less than .1 seconds behind first with a 24.78. Bristor and Eva Markovic took fifth and sixth. Next, Dancsok led the way for Alaska in the 200-yard IM, posting a 2:17.78, which was good enough for third. Charisma Watkins and Mayumi Schaetzle followed in fourth and fifth.
Schmiedel finished half a second away from her second victory of the afternoon in the 100-yard butterfly, recording a time of 1:00.19 in the event. Payton Wojciechowicz and Kaidence Sampsel rounded out the top four spots for the Nanooks. San Diego State took the top two spots in the 100-yard freestyle, with Jordan O'Connor posting a 53.70 to take third. Bristor and Markovic took the following two places for Alaska.
In the eighth event of the meet, Fletcher-Stables swam to a second-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke, recording a 59.18. O'Connor and Pangburn also raced for the Nanooks in the event, collecting fourth and fifth-place finishes. Wojciechowicz was Alaska's top finisher in the 500-yard freestyle, taking third place with a time of 5:27.18. Shoemaker and Pecore followed in fourth and fifth.
In the penultimate event, both teams swam in the 100-yard breaststroke, with Dancsok finishing as the top Nanook with a 1:08.86, which placed the sophomore in third. Schaetzle and Sariah Rodgers finished right behind her in third and fourth.
The day concluded with a 400-yard freestyle relay, which San Diego State would win with a time of 3:30.04. The Nanooks took the following three places, with a team of O'Connor, Bristor, Pangburn and Schmiedel taking second place with a 3:39.13.
After day one of the meet, head coach Ksenia Gromova shared her thoughts on the Nanooks' season-opener. "The first day went well. Some of the swimmers went pretty impressive times for a dual meet and the first meet of the season. We are competing against a fast Division 1 team, the goal is to have our swimmers focus on their own races and unite at their first meet together. So far, they've done an amazing job."
The Nanooks return to the pool tomorrow against the Aztecs with a start time of 10 a.m. A live stream will be available on the Alaska Nanooks YouTube channel.
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