GREENSBORO, N.C. (March 11, 2022) – Finishing 17th in the preliminary round of an event at the NCAA Division II Championships is perhaps the most frustrating position an up-and-coming swimmer can find herself in, and that was what Oklahoma Christian's Cheyenne Parks had to deal with on Friday morning.

With a prelims time of 2:02.35 in her heat race at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, Parks missed qualifying for the evening final in the 200-yard butterfly – one of her better events – by a mere .03 of a second. The top eight swimmers qualify for the A final, with the next eight making the B final.

The sophomore from Guthrie, Okla., will have one more chance to make a Division II final on Saturday, swimming in another of her favorite events, the 200 backstroke.

"Cheyenne's year has been incredible," OC coach Josh Davis said. "What she did at (the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference meet), setting 10 school records, was really a once-in-a-lifetime kind of special meet. Now she's here at nationals for the first time, soaking it all in. We had a bitter lesson this morning. When we talk about the details and the importance of the turns – she had seven turns and one of them was off. That was the three-one-hundredths difference. You learn that lesson that you can't be off.

"But she's excited for the (200 backstroke) tomorrow. Given the challenges of this year, she's doing amazing. So we're looking on the bright side. She's fired up to finish the meet strong tomorrow and she's got a very good shot at making the finals in the 200 back."

MEET RESULTS