2017 U.S. Junior Nationals: Day 5 Prelims Live Recap

2017 SPEEDO JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• August 8 – 12, 2017
• East Meadow, NY (Long Island)
• Meet Central
• Meet info
• Psych sheet
• Prelims Timeline
• Live results
• Saturday prelims heat sheets

The final day of the 2017 U.S. Junior National Championships gets underway this morning in Long Island. 16-year-old Anya Goeders is the top seed in the girls 50 free, with heats of the boys and girls 200 IM set to open the morning, followed by heats of the boys and girls 50 free.

Isabel Ivey leads the girls IM, while the boys event looks like a showdown between brothers Carson Foster and Jake Foster. The top boys 50 free seed is Will Davis.

The meet will continue with early heats of the boys 800 and girls 1500 freestyles, with the fastest heats of each race swimming with finals at night.

Keep refreshing this page for live, event-by-event recaps of all the action from New York.

Girls 200 IM – Prelims

• WJR: 2:09.98 – Rikako Ikee
• Meet: 2:12.32 – Ella Eastin
• 13-14 NAG: 2:12.73 – Missy Franklin
• 15-16 NAG: 2:10.41 – Katie Hoff
• 17-18 NAG: 2:10.02 – Elizabeth Pelton

Top 8:

1. Kathleen Golding, 2:17.62
2. Kate Douglass, 2:17.90
3. Olivia Carter, 2:17.92
4. Lindsay Looney, 2:18.05
5. Diana Dunn, 2:18.06
6. Claire Donan, 2:18.35
7. Kristen Romano, 2:18.64
8. Hannah Foster, 2:18.80

South Florida’s Kathleen Golding is the top qualifier into finals of the girls 200 IM, going 2:17.62 to shave .07 off her previous lifetime-best. Golding had to win the toughest circle-seeded heat, eking out a win over Olivia Carter (2:17.90) and Diana Dunn (2:18.06) with a strong back half. All three made the championship final, along with fourth-place Kristen Romano.

In the final heat, 15-year-old Kate Douglass challenged Golding’s time, but couldn’t quite overtake it. Douglass slots in as the second qualifier.

Metroplex’s Lindsay Looney had a huge swim out of the early heats, cutting from her previous best of 2:18.75 down to 2:18.05 to slide into the A final in 4th place. 15-year-old Claire Donan won the opening circle-seeded heat, and that was good enough to make the A final along with runner-up Hannah Foster.

Boys 200 IM – Prelims

• WJR: 1:57.06 – Qin Haiyang
• Meet: 2:00.07 – Kyle Whitaker
• 13-14 NAG: 2:04.13 – Michael Andrew
• 15-16 NAG: 1:59.84 – Andrew Seliskar
• 17-18 NAG: 1:55.94 – Michael Phelps

Top 8:

1. Carson Foster, 2:02.23
2. Jake Foster, 2:04.00
3. Shaine Casas, 2:04.35
4. Braden Vines, 2:04.48
5. Alexei Sancov, 2:05.03
6. Alberto Gomez, 2:05.43
7. Zach Hills, 2:05.77
8. Tal Davis, 2:05.87

In the first of the circle-seeded heats, freestyle star Alexei Sancov used scary closing speed to run right by the field and win in 2:05.03. The junior world record-holder in the 200 free could be a factor tonight no matter how far back he is with 50 to go – his closing split of 28.29 was the fastest of all A finalists by a half-second, and more than a second better than most of his championship final competition tonight.

One heat later, Jake Foster put on a clinic, dominating the field for a 2:04.00 win that pushed Sancov off the top of the leaderboard. Braden Vines was 2:04.48 to jump up to second place.

That was before the younger foster brother, Carson, crushed a 2:02.23 to take the top spot for good in the final heat. That’s a drop of 1.3 seconds for Carson Foster, who is now starting to swim within sight of the 15-16 national age group record of 1:59.84 set by Michael Andrew. Carson Foster still has more than a year left in the age group.

He pulled that final heat to some big swims. Runner-up Shaine Casas is the third qualifier for tonight with a 2:04.35 and outside-laner Tal Davis also snuck into the A final with a 2:05.87.

Also making the final were Alberto Gomez, who was second in Sancov’s heat and Zach Hills, who took third behind Jake Foster and Vines.

Girls 50 Freestyle – Prelims

• WJR: 24.48 – Rikako Ikee
• Meet: 25.07 – Marta Ciesla
• 13-14 NAG: 25.23 – Missy Franklin
• 15-16 NAG: 24.80 – Simone Manuel
• 17-18 NAG: 24.56 – Simone Manuel

Top 8:

1. Anya Goeders, 25.65
2. Kate Douglass, 25.66
3. Lucie Nordmann, 25.71
4. Grace Ariola, 25.75
5. Nika Blank, 25.80
6. Grace Haskett, 25,81
7. Lauren Pitzer, 26.00
8. Megan Keil, 26.04

16-year-old Coleen Gillilan of Fort Collins Area Swim Team came off of a 200 IM swim and rocked the double, winning the opening 50 free heat in 26.35. That time stood atop the leaderboard for 9 more heats, almost making it to the circle seeds before Indiana Swim Team’s Grace Haskett went 25.81 to take over the top spot.

But things didn’t really fire up until the circle-seeded heats. Lucie Nordmann won the first in 25.71, putting up the new fastest time of the morning. One heat later and one lane over, Grace Ariola very nearly matched that time with a 25.75.

The final heat was the biggest showdown. Anya Goeders torched a 25.65, pushed the whole way by 15-year-old Kate Douglass, also coming off of that 200 IM double. Those two had the fastest times of the morning, with Douglass going 25.66 for second. Nordmann and Ariola follow closely heading into tonight’s final.

Nika Blank was also under 26, and Haskett’s early-heat time held up for 6th overall. It almost took 25.9 to make the championship final here. Lauren Pitzer snuck into 7th with a 26.00, and the last A finalist will be Megan Keil in 26.04. That means the entire final tonight enters separated by less than four tenths of a second, with the top four all within a single tenth.

Boys 50 Freestyle – Prelims

• WJR: 22.00 – Yu Hexin
• Meet: 22.13 – Vladimir Morozov
• 13-14 NAG: 23.19 – Michael Andrew
• 15-16 NAG: 22.33 – Michael Andrew
• 17-18 NAG: 21.53 – Caeleb Dressel

Top 8:

1. Will Davis, 22.99
2. Sid Farber, 23.09
3. Shaine Casas, 23.27
4. Adam Chaney, 23.39
5. Blaise Vera, 23.35
6. Will Chan, 23.44
7. Brandon Hamblin, 23.63
8. David Madej, 23.63

In contrast, the boys 50 free was entirely about the circle seeds. With the top time belonging to a pair of 23.70s before the circle seeds came up 10 of the 24 final swimmers topped that mark. Will Davis was the fastest, going 22.99 for the smooth morning win, blowing out the last heat.

One heat earlier, Sid Farber went 23.09 followed by Shaine Casas‘ 23.27, Adam Chaney‘s 23.39 and Will Chan‘s 23.44. Those stand up as #2, #3, #4 and #6 heading into tonight.

Blaise Vera won the opening circle-seeded heat in 23.35, but he was the only swimmer from that heat to make the championship final. Also qualifying out of Davis’s heat were Brandon Hamblin and David Madej, who tied for 7th in 23.63.