16-Year-Old Micah Tennison Hits His First Summer Champs Cut at Justin Sectionals

USA Swimming Futures Championships – Justin

• July 23-26, 2025
• Northwest ISD Aquatic Center, Justin, TX
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheet
• Post Session Results
  • Day 1 Results
• Live Results expected to be on Meet Mobile

Justin, Texas played host to one of the smaller of the fields at the USA Swimming Futures Championships, with the girls’ 800 free having only three entries and some races not even having enough to fill a B-Final.

None-the-less, the session produced some positive results for those who attended. That included a 1:50.39 to win the boys’ 200 free early in the session by 16-year-old Micah Tennison from the Houston area.

That knocks 1.3 seconds off his lifetime best and is his first Summer Championships cut.

Tennison is the perfect example of the value of these Futures meets as a stepping-stone from local and LSC Championships to national events. A swimmer who won the B-Final at a Futures meet last year, is a high school state finalist (6A – big schools) in Texas, was the 2024 Gulf Swimming LSC Champion in the 200 free, but who didn’t have a cut for Summer Nationals. He does have several Junior Nationals cuts already, but no senior-level standards.

Now he’ll head into Summer Juniors with at least one best time, a top 100 all-time ranking in the age group, and more confidence.

Princeton undergrad Daniel Li finished 2nd in 1:50.53 after leading most of the race.

Luke Barr, who just finished his collegiate eligibility at Indiana, swam 1:01.70 to win the boys’ 100 breaststroke. Travis Gulledge, who is transferring to Indiana after spending his freshman season at Texas A&M, finished 2nd in 1:01.91 after the two touched simultaneously at the turn.

Other Day 1 Winners & Highlights

• 16-year-old Lily Wiles from The Woodlands Swim Team won the 200 fly in 2:18.38, just holding off a late charge from Isabella Chavez-Varela of the Coronado Swim Team in California. Wiles led by .48 seconds at the final turn, and ultimately won by .06 seconds. That is a best time for Wiles, who swam 2:19.30 at Sectionals two weeks ago.
• Anderson Brown, who swims collegiately for Indian River in the NJCAA, went out aggressively in his 200 fly, turning at 58.56 and almost two seconds ahead of the field. He held on well in the third 50, and while he paid the price a bit finishing the race, he held on to win in 2:04.34.
  • 15-year-old JJ Hoover from the Bulldog Aquatics Club in Louisiana finished 2nd in 2:04.76. That just-missed the best time he swam at the Louisiana Swimming LSC Championships last weekend.
• Austin native, but University of Arizona undergrad, Malia Rausch won the girls’ 200 free in 2:03.98.
• Antonia Leese from Nitro Swimming, an undergrad at NCAA Division II power Colorado Mesa, won the girls’ 100 breast in 1:12.53. She beat out a pair of juniors who swam best times – Tessa Broedell from North Palm Beach Swim Club in Florida (1:12.66) and Ashlyn Anderson from the hosts Lakeside Aquatic Club (1:12.95).
• A three swimmer race in the girls’ 800 free was won by Nora Weber from the King Marlin Swim Club in Oklahoma. She finished in 9:08.05.
• Joey Kerkman from Texas Ford Aquatics won the boys’ 1500 free in 16:04.57, a two-second improvement on his lifetime best. An uncommitted rising high school senior, Kerkman was part of Walnut Grove’s state title winning boys’ team (Class 5A) last year in Texas.
• Nitro Swimming’s girls 200 free relay won in 1:47.39 with a team of Abigail Halko, Charissa Higgs, Elise Nguyen, and Sophie Jones. They were one of the youngest relays in the field. Jones, 15,  split 26.42 on the anchor to run down the previous leaders from the Lakeside Aquatic Club.
• River City Aquatics in Missouri won the boys’ 200 free relay in 1:34.95, with a team of Tripp Hurst, Phineas Theall, Nate Thomas, and Tylan Thomas. Thomas, 16, was the youngest member of the relay but anchored in the fastest split of the four: 22.86. His best flat start is 23.5.