Santa Clara Swim Club seniors Sandra Soe and Aidan Burns each picked up individual distance wins on the first night of the 2015 NASA Junior National Cup in Clearwater, Florida Tuesday.
With only the 200 medley and 200 free relays contested alongside the boys 1000 free and the girls 1650, Santa Clara swept both individual races.
Soe, an incoming freshman for the ascending UCLA women’s program, took home the 1650 free title in a landslide, going 16:13.39. That time would’ve placed Soe just inside the top 25 at last week’s women’s NCAA Championships.
She beat hometown Clearwater’s Natalie Clausen (16:28.62).
In the men’s 1000, the future Georgia Bulldog Burns went 8:53.26 to take home the win over teammate and Minnesota commit Michael Messner (9:03.44). Those times rank 6th and 20th, respectively, in the nation so far this season.
Quest Swimming of Virginia nearly took both girls relay titles. The Quest girls went 1:43.94 to win the 200 medley relay, beating the Ohio State Swim Club. Tennessee commit Maddie Banic‘s 24.92 backstroke leg was the biggest difference-maker, and the relay also included Jessica Beck (30.06 breast), Elizabeth Magnusson (25.83 fly) and Kelsey Dambacher (23.13 free).
In the 200 free relay, the host Clearwater Aquatic Club just touched out Quest for the title. Clearwater boasted a relay of four high school seniors, each of whom is a Division I prospect. Duke commit Lexy Aitchison led the way with a 22.93 split, and the relay also featured a 23.07 from Texas A&M signee Sydney Pickrem. The relay also featured a 23.67 from leadoff leg Michelle Turek (an Auburn commit) and Tulane signee Natalie Clausen was 24.29, an impressive split considering she was coming off her 2nd-place finish in the 1650 free earlier in the night.
The Marietta Marlins of Georgia won the boys 200 medley relay in 1:32.00, with Ohio State Swim Club once again second. The Marlins relay was composed of Kentucky commit David Dingess (23.02 back), Thaddius Macon (25.84 breast), Cullen Fields (21.76 fly) and Brady Fields (21.38 free).
Ohio State Swim Club broke through for the win in the 200 free relay, though, going 1:24.97 to touch out the Marietta Marlins. That team featured a 20.90 leadoff leg from high-profile Buffalo commit Mason Miller, plus a 20.98 from Winston Kuriger. With those two building a lead, Jack Saczawa (21.68) and Arnold Luk (21.41) held off the Marlins for the win.
The meet continues through Saturday night. Full results are available on Meet Mobile.
