FAIRBANKS – The Nanooks swimming team concluded their home schedule on Saturday morning, welcoming Westmont back to the Patty Center Pool for their second dual meet of the weekend. Despite winning six of the 10 events on the day, the Nanooks fell 95-91.
The 'Nooks honored Kaidence Sampsel, Ali Pecore and McKenzie Fazio during the meet as part of their senior day celebrations, as the three swimmers competed at the Patty Center Pool one last time.
The day began with the Nanooks taking first in the 200-yard medley relay, as the relay quartet of Fazio, Dorka Dancsok, Giorgia Merlo and Mariia Sirotinskaia grabbed the win after finishing in 1:52.60. Westmont claimed the top two spots in the 1000-yard freestyle, with Merlo finishing fastest for the Nanooks in 11:25.15, good for third place.
Pecore recorded her third win of the weekend and first win of the meet in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing 0.78 seconds faster than the second-place swimmer with a time of 24.92. Cosima Schmiedel followed that up by taking the top spot in the 400-yard IM, touching the wall in 4:49.97, which was 8.22 seconds ahead of the next-closest swimmer.
Merlo was the highest Nanook finisher in the 200-yard butterfly, posting a time of 2:20.68 in the event to place second. Pecore followed by winning her second event of the day, placing first in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 54.40. The Nanooks finished 1-2 in the event, with Dancsok's 55.67 good for second.
Westmont would take the top two spots in the 200-yard backstroke and 500-yard freestyle, with Fazio (2:16.74) and Sirotinskaia (5:31.85) finishing third in the two events, respectively. Dancsok (2:27.91) and Macy Ahrens (2:33.83) finished 1-2 in the 200-yard breaststroke to lead into the final event of the day - the 200-yard freestyle relay. The team of Dancsok, Merlo, Fazio and Pecore would swim to a time of 1:41.87 to take the top spot in the relay.
The Nanooks are back in the pool next month when they take part in the PCSC Championships on Feb. 11-14. The four-day meet will be held at the ELAC Pool in Monterey Park, Calif.
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