2016 US Winter Jr Champs – East: Day One Finals Live Recap

2016 U.S. WINTER JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS- EAST

• Wednesday, December 7th – Saturday, December 10th
• Columbus, OH (Ohio State University)
• Psych sheets
• Meet information
• Live results

GIRLS 200 MEDLEY RELAY TIMED FINALS

1. SwimMAC Carolina – 1:40.00
2. Nashville Aquatic Club – 1:40.05
3. Gator Swim Club – 1:40.49

It was the SwimMAC A team who won the girls’ 200 medley relay, getting as close to breaking 1:40 as possible without actually doing it. The team of Julia Menkhaus (24.81), Caroline Hauder (27.65), Sophie Lindner (24.61) and Heidi Lowe (22.93) took top honors by a slim margin over Nashville Aquatic Club. SwimMAC‘s first two legs were a lethal combination that propelled them ahead of the rest of the field, save for NAC.

NAC’s Alex Walsh had a field’s best 24.68 to kick off on backstroke, with Allie Raab putting in a strong 27.78 to follow. They combined for a 52.46 that left NAC tied with SwimMAC at the half. Both Walsh and Raab competed at the Olympic Trials and swam very well, with both swimmers qualifying past the preliminaries in the 100 back for Walsh and 100 breast for Raab. 3rd place Gator Swim Club got a 28.08 breaststroke split from Isabel Ivey who is coming off of an incredible meet at the US Winter Senior Nationals.

BOYS 200 MEDLEY RELAY TIMED FINALS

1. Bolles School Sharks – 1:28.27
2. SwimMAC Carolina – 1:28.85
3. Cincinnati Marlins – 1:30.56

Bolles and SwimMAC, two powerhouse clubs in USA Swimming, went head-to-head and were the top boys’ teams by far tonight. Bolles got the win with Matthew Serra (23.02), James Daugherty (24.87), Ariel Spektor (21.30), and Willie Davis (19.08) combining for a 1:28.27. Daugherty and Davis were the big splits here, especially Davis– 19.08 is absolutely flying for a 16-year-old. For some context, Michael Andrew‘s 19.24 is the 15-16 NAG, while Davis’ lifetime best is a 20.36 from last December which ranks him t-35th in the age group.

SwimMAC‘s William Chan had the quickest breaststroke split of the field, popping out a 24.31 for a very strong time. Another notable split came from freestyler Drew Kibler of Carmel, who swam fly on their 4th place relay and split a 21.39. Jack Franzman of Zionsville Swim Club, also a Hoosier*, split a 19.83 to anchor his team’s 7th place relay.

*Hoosier pertains to someone from Indiana, not necessarily a member of the Indiana University swim team

GIRLS 800 FREE RELAY TIMED FINALS

1. Carmel Swim Club – 7:07.87
2. Nashville Aquatic Club – 7:10.39
3. SwimMAC Carolina – 7:14.73

The Carmel women got the job done for the women’s 800 free relay, taking first with a time of 7:07.87. Sammie Burchill (1:48.36), Kelly Pash (1:46.32), Emma Nordin (1:46.10), and Trude Rothrock (1:47.09) put together the top time by over two seconds to win this race. 2nd place went to NAC, their 2nd silver of the meet, with Allie Raab (1:47.67) and Alex Walsh (1:46.17) bookending strong times for them. SwimMAC‘s top split was lead-off leg Julia Menkhaus in 1:47.63.

The quickest split of the field came from Isabel Ivey, however. The Gator Swim Club sprinter split a 1:45.61, anchoring their relay to a 5th place finish.

BOYS 800 FREE RELAY TIMED FINALS

1. Cincinnati Marlins – 6:34.03
2. Carmel Swim Club – 6:34.10
3. Bolles Swim Club – 6:35.34

The Carmel boys got out to a wicked fast start; in fact, it was the quickest 200 free in U.S. 15-16 age group history. Drew Kibler dropped a 1:33.36 to break the 15-16 NAG record, which got Carmel out to a huge lead right off of the bat. The Marlins, however, reeled Carmel back in, and ended with a win in an incredibly tight finish. The Marlins were led by a 1:37.79 lead-off from Nicholas Perera and a third leg split of 1:36.80 from Justin Grender. Bolles got a 1:37.21 from Ariel Spektor to lead off for them.

Meanwhile, 4th place Upper Dublin Aquatic Club got a 1:35.22 anchor leg from USC commit Jake Sannem. Leading off the SwimMAC 6th place relay was 15-year-old John Walker in 1:36.74. That’s a quick time, and ranks him 20th all-time in the 15-16 age group.