FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks swimming team returned to the Patty Center Pool for its second dual meet of the weekend against Azusa Pacific on Saturday morning, continuing its winning ways with a 123-76 victory over the Cougars. With the win, the Nanooks moved to 3-0 in dual meets to start the season.

The Nanooks won seven of the 11 events during the meet and recorded 20 podium finishes.

The Nanooks started strong and did not look back, taking first and second in the 400-yard medley relay to open the meet. The team of Monica Botha, Dorka Dancsok, Marilia Persidou and Sam Bristor took gold in 4:03.00, while Charisma Watkins, Mayumi Schaetzle, Giorgia Merlo and Ava Thomas followed in second with a time of 4:10.66. The 'Nooks locked out the top three places in the 1650-yard freestyle, with Zsófia Varga (18:04.56), Kitti Marton (18:12.22) and Mariia Sirotinskaia (18:57.06) all finishing in the podium positions. Azusa Pacific grabbed its first win in the 200-yard freestyle, as Persidou took second with a 2:03.19, but the 'Nooks quickly got back in the win column after Zhenia Stukova placed first in the 50-yard freestyle with a 25.05.

Dancsok followed by winning the 200-yard IM (2:11.65), and Cosima Schmiedel secured first place in the 100-yard butterfly (59.65), but APU took first in the following two events, winning the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke. Schmiedel placed second for the 'Nooks in the freestyle with a 55.03, and Watkins took second in the backstroke with a 1:02.57. Stukova and Dancsok each picked up their second individual win of the morning in the next two events, giving the Nanooks two more wins heading into the final relay: Stukova led the way in the 500-yard freestyle with a 5:26.04, while Dancsok posted a winning time of 1:09.04 in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Despite Azusa Pacific winning the 400-yard freestyle relay, the Nanooks had already built enough of a lead to grab the win. The team of Botha, Schmiedel, Stukova and Bristor placed second, finishing just over a second behind first place with a time of 3:38.94.

The Nanooks enter a three-week break after their dual meet against Azusa Pacific. Their next meet is on Saturday, Nov. 7, with a double-dual against Seattle University and Pacific University at the Redhawk Center in Seattle.

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