GREENSBORO, N.C. (March 12, 2022) – Success in the pool often seems to come easy for Oklahoma Christian's Cheyenne Parks, who often smashes her opposition by large margins. But at the NCAA Division II Championships, the higher level of competition proved a challenge for her.

Through three events over three days, Parks couldn't advance past the preliminary round. Then came Saturday and a long-awaited breakthrough. Parks qualified for the B final in the 200-yard backstroke at the Greensboro Aquatic Center and finished 12th overall, allowing her to end her first trip to the national meet with a smile.

In the process, she earned OC four team points, allowing the Eagles to finish 35th among the 37 teams that had at least one scorer at the meet. That's important, because OC now will receive credit for placing in the NCAA women's swimming postseason when the Division II Directors' Cup standings are determined later this year.

"It was super fun to swim at night," Parks said. "I really enjoyed going out there and giving it my all and finishing the season strong. The energy in here is really cool and something I haven't really experienced before."

Parks, a sophomore from Guthrie, Okla., steadily built toward Saturday's success during the week. She finished 40th in the 200 individual medley on Wednesday, then improved on Thursday in the 400 IM, placing 25th of 41 swimmers. But only 16 swimmers advance to the evening finals – eight in the A final, the next eight in the B final – and Parks hadn't earned that opportunity.

On Friday, she came painfully close, placing 17th in the 200 butterfly and missing an evening swim by just .03 of a second. But on Saturday, she seized her opportunity. In her prelims race, she posted a personal-best (and school-record) time of 2:00.41, good for 11th place and a spot in the B final. She went even lower at night, finishing in 2:00.04.

"Going from (our conference meet) and going all out, and then waiting three weeks and doing it again (here), there are a lot of emotions and a lot of ups and downs," Parks said. "It's really fun to have it all over. Having this experience … I can take what I've learned from this meet and apply it next year."

OC coach Josh Davis will have Parks for at least one more season, and she could choose to swim for the Eagles two more years if she wants thanks to eligibility rules put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. He is excited about what she can accomplish going forward.

"She got faster and got the experience of swimming at night," he said. "That should give her a lot of motivation to do it again and come back next year. Her improvement this whole year has been incredible, so this is just icing on the cake in really a magical year."

MEET RESULTS