INDIANAPOLIS – Silja Kansakoski's advancement to the NCAA finals in her first appearance at the national meet highlighted the Sun Devils' participation on day three of the championships, the team's second day with participating events. For the feat, she was named an Honorable Mention All-American.
The freshman Kansakoski cut nearly a second off her prelim time in the 100 breast in the evening finals, touching the wall at 58.89, to finish 11th overall, third in the "B" final heat.
To reach the finals, Pac-12 champion Kansakoski swam another one of her top five fastest collegiate times in the prelims, finishing 12th to become ASU's first finals qualifier of the championships.
"Today we took a big step forward with Silja becoming our first Honorable Mention All-American and scoring swimming points for the first time at the National Championship," said head coach Bob Bowman. "Her 200 tomorrow will be another great chance to score points and hopefully move up in the standings a bit. Our freshmen are getting a tremendous learning experience which will benefit our entire team next year and in the years to come."
Kat Simonovic and Kendall Dawson swam their second individual prelim events of the weekend, the 200 free. Despite finishing their quest for a title in the prelims, each time was good for top-10 ASU times in the event this season.
The Sun Devils' 200 medley relay team – Ingibjorg Jonsdottir, Kansakoski, Chloe Isleta, and Claire Fisch – finished just .23 seconds behind their seed time from the Pac-12 championships in prelims.
Saturday, the final day of competition, brings ASU's busiest day of the championships. The Sun Devils' schedule for Saturday is as follows:
10 am – 200 Breast Trials, 400 Free Relay Trials
12:15 pm – Platform Diving Trials
15 mins after trials – Platform Diving Consolation Finals (9-16)
3:45 pm – 1650 Free (Early heats)
6 pm – 1650 Free Finals, Platform Diving Finals, 200 Breast Finals, 400 Free Relay Consolation/Finals
ESPN3 will stream the championship finals session while morning sessions will be streamed live on NCAA.com. Live results will continue to be available throughout the championship on NCAA.com.
The freshman Kansakoski cut nearly a second off her prelim time in the 100 breast in the evening finals, touching the wall at 58.89, to finish 11th overall, third in the "B" final heat.
To reach the finals, Pac-12 champion Kansakoski swam another one of her top five fastest collegiate times in the prelims, finishing 12th to become ASU's first finals qualifier of the championships.
"Today we took a big step forward with Silja becoming our first Honorable Mention All-American and scoring swimming points for the first time at the National Championship," said head coach Bob Bowman. "Her 200 tomorrow will be another great chance to score points and hopefully move up in the standings a bit. Our freshmen are getting a tremendous learning experience which will benefit our entire team next year and in the years to come."
Kat Simonovic and Kendall Dawson swam their second individual prelim events of the weekend, the 200 free. Despite finishing their quest for a title in the prelims, each time was good for top-10 ASU times in the event this season.
The Sun Devils' 200 medley relay team – Ingibjorg Jonsdottir, Kansakoski, Chloe Isleta, and Claire Fisch – finished just .23 seconds behind their seed time from the Pac-12 championships in prelims.
Saturday, the final day of competition, brings ASU's busiest day of the championships. The Sun Devils' schedule for Saturday is as follows:
10 am – 200 Breast Trials, 400 Free Relay Trials
12:15 pm – Platform Diving Trials
15 mins after trials – Platform Diving Consolation Finals (9-16)
3:45 pm – 1650 Free (Early heats)
6 pm – 1650 Free Finals, Platform Diving Finals, 200 Breast Finals, 400 Free Relay Consolation/Finals
ESPN3 will stream the championship finals session while morning sessions will be streamed live on NCAA.com. Live results will continue to be available throughout the championship on NCAA.com.