GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (Feb. 12, 2022) –
Cheyenne Parks posted a runner-up finish in the 200-yard backstroke and Oklahoma Christian's 400 freestyle relay team joined her in setting a school record on Saturday on the final day of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships at El Pomar Natatorium.
OC tied Western Colorado for third place in the seven-team meet with 508 points. Meet host Colorado Mesa won the title with 1,323.5 points, with Colorado School of Mines second with 775.5 points.
Parks, a sophomore who's headed to next month's NCAA Division II Championships – most likely in multiple events – added the 200 backstroke to that list. After winning in the morning preliminary-round race, she took second in 2:01.96 in the evening final. That met the Division II B time standard and ranked 17th in the division. Her second-place finish earned her All-RMAC honors in the event.
When adjusted for altitude, her time was 2:00.76, which broke her own OC record in the event of 2:00.83, set last November in the Eagle Invitational in Edmond, Okla. Parks' teammate, sophomore
Mallory Mead of Timonium, Md., also made the A final in the event and took eighth in 2:10.07. OC freshman
Julia Flores won the B final in 2:08.06, placing ninth overall.
Parks was one of only two swimmers not on Colorado Mesa's squad to win a title in one of the 21 events at the RMAC meet, having taken the crown in the 200 butterfly on Friday. She also finished fifth in individual points earned during the meet with 69. She was the only swimmer not from Colorado Mesa or Colorado Mines on the list of top-10 point producers during the meet.
Another OC mark fell in the 400 freestyle relay. The Eagles' crew of
Hope Hill,
Andrea Rogers,
Kayci McKinnon and
Olivia Rollen placed third in 3:32.41, which was 3:32.01 when adjusted for altitude. Rollen,
Laura Byars, Hill and McKinnon held the former record of 3:32.95, set at the Eagle Invitational.
Junior
Andrea Rogers of St. Charles, Mo., was OC's top swimmer in the 200 breaststroke, placing 10th in 2:30.51 (2:29.31 altitude-adjusted). In the 100 freestyle, Hill, a sophomore from Santa Clarita, Calif., led the Eagles by finishing 13th in 53.22 seconds (53.12 seconds altitude-adjusted).
While the season has ended for most of the Eagles, Parks will learn during the next few days which events she'll participate in during the Division II Championship meet, which will be held March 9-12 in Greensboro, N.C.
