Feb. 17, 2008

Results

LONG BEACH, CA - Junior Samantha Zinsli and freshman Mariya Pavlovskaya became the second and third Alaska Nanook swimmers, respectively, to earn All-Conference honors over the weekend at the Pacific Collegiate Swim Coaches conference championships. The Blue and Gold achieved their team goal of improving upon their 2007, 10th place finish by taking eighth place after scoring 378 points over the four-day event.

Having three swimmers earn all-conference honors was a big step for the program after having had just a single member in that elite group, All-American Kelly Becker, the previous season.

For Alaska the high point of the meet proved to be the 200 backstroke, where the Nanooks tallied the most points of the day. Three Nanooks made the finals and combined to score 41 points that helped the Nanooks maintain their edge over Fresno Pacific in the standings. Pavlovskaya led the trio, taking fourth and all-conference honors, while sophomore Kathryn Niemi finished 17th and freshman Abbey Jackson finished 19th.

Earlier in the day Zinsli took fifth in the 1650 freestyle and freshman Kinsey Laine was 20th. Their combined results furnished the Nanooks with 30 points, also proving themselves vital to Alaska's rise in the standings. Friday they had combined to score 29 points in the 400 individual medley and 23 points in the 100 backstroke.

In the 100 freestyle final, Jacqueline vanDriessche led the charge nabbing the 28th spot, while junior Amanda Hartman took 35th and senior Karin Wagner finished 40th.

The Nanooks closed out the days event and the four-day meet on a strong note, with their 400 freestyle relay team, consisting of Zinsli, Wagner, Pavlovskaya and Laine, touching the wall in 3:44.65:good for 9th place and 40 points.