2017 Winter Juniors West: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2017 SPEEDO WINTER JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS – WEST

• December 6 – 9
• University of Iowa Recreation Center
• Iowa City, IA
• Live results
• Live stream
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheet

The 3rd finals session of the Speedo Winter Juniors West meet will feature the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, and 100 back. The relay tonight is the 200 free relay. Zoe Bartel will look to lower her west meet record in the 100 breast.

GIRLS 400 IM

• West Meet Record: 4:05.25, Ella Eastin, 2013
• Jrs Meet Record: 4:02.51, Brooke Ford, 2016

1. Vanessa Pearl – 4:05.80
2. Samantha Shelton – 4:10.28
3. Luciana Thomas – 4:13.66

Vanessa Pearl crushed the field again tonight, this time blasting a new best time of 4:05.80, and just missing Ella Eastin’s West Meet Record. Pearl had a great all-around swim, splitting 56.36 on fly, 1:03.03 on back, 1:08.65 on breast, and 57.76 on free. She also had the fastest fly, back, and breast splits in the field, her breast split by far the fastest in the field. Samantha Shelton was comfortably in 2nd for most of the race, and her strong free split brought it home for her to claim the Silver medal. Luciana Thomas led the way for a relatively tight race for 3rd basically the whole way through the race, shaving a couple tenths off her best time in the process.

Kaitlynn Sims won the B final with a personal best of 4:16.40, while Riley Lexvold won the C final with a huge best time performance of 4:14.89, which would have been good for 5th in the A final.

BOYS 400 IM

• West Meet Record: 3:44.26, Curtis Ogren, 2013
• Jrs Meet Record: 3:44.26, Curtis Ogren, 2013

1. Jack Levant – 3:45.75
2. Caleb Aman – 3:49.54
3. Jackson Cunningham – 3:50.09

Jack Levant came in first again tonight, this time crushing the field with a huge personal best of 3:45.75. Levant went 3:49 in prelims, which was 10 seconds faster than his previous best time of 3:59, set at this meet last year. Levant had the fastest front half of the race by far, splitting 50.76 on fly and 56.60 on back to be out in 1:47.36. His first 200 was 4 seconds faster than the next fastest in the pool. Levant was about a second and a half off Curtis Ogren‘s meet record, which was broken earlier tonight in the East meet.

Coming in 2nd and 3rd were Caleb Aman and Jackson Cunningham, both of whom dropped time.

William Goodwin won the B final with a personal best of 3:52.89. Goodwin was entered in the meet with a 3:59.49. Winning the C final was Adam Grimm, who also went a personal best of 3:55.92.

GIRLS 100 FLY

• West Meet Record: 51.73, Regan Smith, 2016
• Jrs Meet Record: 51.73, Regan Smith, 2016

1. Emma Carlton – 52.11
2. Lucie Nordmann – 52.31
3. Coleen Gillian – 52.60

Emma Carlton came out on top tonight after finishing a tenth of a second behind Lucie Nordmann this morning. Emma Carlton blasted a new best time of 52.11, which broke the pool record of 52.25, set by Mackenzie Powers of Penn State in 2012. Carlton’s time was still a little off Regan Smith’s meet record which also doubles as the 13-14 NAG. Carlton used her speed going out tonight, posting a 23.89 on the first 50, yes, 23.89, the only 23 in the field. Lucie Nordmann was right behind her at 52.31, a great swim and personal best for her as well. Coleen Gillian came in 3rd with a personal best of 52.60. Nordmann and Gillian broke 53 for the first time today, and they both did it in both prelims and finals.

Dakota Luther was just out of the top 3, coming in at 52.68, a good drop from her prelims time of 53.39, but still a little off her best of 52.27.

The B final was taken by Elise Garcia, who won in a very tight race with Julia Heimstead and Karisa Franz. Garcia went 53.82, Heimstead 53.87, and Franz 53.94.

Emma Stephenson fired one off in the C final, posting a personal best of 53.34.

BOYS 100 FLY

• West Meet Record: 45.46, Ryan Hoffer, 2015
• Jrs Meet Record: 45.46, Ryan Hoffer, 2015

1. Ethan Hu – 47.14
2. Noah Henry – 47.19
3. Gianluca Urlando – 47.36

15-year-old Ethan Hu defended his 1st place finish in prelims this morning by blasting a new best time of 47.14. His old best time was 47.86. Hu touched out Noah Henry, who came in 2nd with a best time of 47.19. Hu and Henry swam almost the exact same race, with Hu slightly out-splitting Henry 22.06/22.19 on the 1st 50, and Henry slightly out-splitting Hu on the 2nd 50, 25.00/25.08. Watching the race, it was hard to tell who was in front, but Hu got his hand on the wall first. Coming in 3rd was another 15 year old, Gianluca Urlando, who went 47.36, and went out just a little bit slower than Hu and Henry (22.34), but coming back in 25.02, faster than Hu, but slower than Henry.

Ty Coen won the B final with a best time of 48.21.

Jason Park, a 17 year old from Metroplex Aquatics in Texas, won the C final with the fastest time in the entire event: 46.99. That time marks an insane drop from his previous best time going into the meet of 49.50. Park had the 3rd fastest 1st 50 split in the event with a 22.23, but blasted a 24.76 coming home to mark the fastest 2nd 50 split in the field by far, and the only one under 25.

GIRLS 200 FREE

• West Meet Record: 1:44.46, Katie Drabot, 2015
• Jrs Meet Record: 1:43.64, Isabel Ivey, 2016

1. Ella Ristic – 1:46.90
2. Dakota Luther – 1:47.00
3. Isabelle Henig – 1:47.18

The super tight prelims races from this morning spread out a little bit as 15-year-old Ella Ristic used a strong back half to go from being 6th at the 100 to winning the event. Ristic had the fastest 2nd 100 in the filed with a 53.93, less than a second slower than her first 100 of 52.97, showing some incredibly consistent splitting. Ristic ran down Dakota Luther, who was on the tail-end of a back-to-back 100 fly/200 free double, on the 3rd 50 and narrowly out-split her on the last 50 to touch her out for gold. Isabelle Henig, who came in 3rd, was 1st at the 150 by just a little, but had a slightly slower last 50 and ended in 3rd.

Martina Thomas took the B final with a 1:47.30, while Rachel Rhee took the C final with a 1:48.11.

BOYS 200 FREE

• West Meet Record: 1:33.67, Dylan Carter, 2013
• Jrs Meet Record: 1:33.40, Drew Kibler, 2016

1. Jack Dolan – 1:34.78
2. Kevin Callan – 1:35.44
3. William Bresette – 1:36.43

Jack Dolan only really controlled the last 50 of the race, despite posting a quick 21.66 out of the gates. Kevin Callan was right behind him at 21.72, but followed that up with a 23.66 to Dolan’s 24.02, putting Callan out in 45.35 to Dolan’s 45.68. Callan then out-split Doaln again on the 3rd 50 , going 24.51 to Dolan’s 24.58, putting Callan 4 tenths of a second ahead. However, the last 50 was where Callan fell off the pace, going a 25.58, while Dolan doubled down on the 24.5s, going a 24.52 on the last 50 to win comfortably over Callan. William Bresette was victorious in a tight race with Daniel Krueger and Michael Petrides for 3rd, posting a strong middle 100 and holding on for the Bronze.

Winning the B final was Alexander Zettle (1:37.25), while Peyton Werner won the C (1:38.87).

GIRLS 100 BREAST

• West Meet Record: 59.04, Zoe Bartel, 2016
• Jrs Meet Record: 58.80, Alexandra Walsh, 2016

1. Zoe Bartel – 58.98
2. Zoie Hartman – 59.84
3. Coleen Gillilan – 1:00.11

Zoe Bartel shaved a little time off her own West meet record, breaking :59 for the first time ever in the process. Bartel was out in a speedy 27.62, the fastest split in the field, and back in 31.36, also the fastest split in the field. Silver medalist, Zoie Hartman, swam a somewhat more controlled 1st 50 of 28.42, then brought it home in 31.42, just narrowly off Bartel’s 2nd 50. Hartman’s 59.84 marks the first time in her career she has broken 1 minute in the 100 breast. Following closely behind Hartman was Coleen Gillilan, who also went a lifetime best, and picked up her 2nd Bronze of the night.

In the B final, Vivian Wang ran down Noelle Peplowski on the 2nd 50 to touch her out 1:01.28 to 1:01.37. Both girls also went best times.

Emma Weber won the C final with a best time swim of 1:02.25.

BOYS 100 BREAST

• West Meet Record: 52.21, Michael Andrew, 2015
• Jrs Meet Record: 52.21, Michael Andrew, 2015

1. Zane Backes – 53.16
2. Ethan Dang – 54.16
3. William Myhre – 54.17

Zane Backes once again controlled the field from start to finish, shaving a little off his lifetime best prelims performance, and posting the fastest split in both 50s in the field. Backes was out in a speedy 25.02, over half a second faster than the next fastest in the field, which came from Bronze Medalist William Myhre, who was out in 25.66. Backes was then back in 28.18, most closely followed by Silver Medalist Ethan Dang, who posted a 28.38 coming home.

Kaloyan Bratanov won the B final convincingly, posting a 54.49, which would have been good for 4th in the A final.

Braden Vines took the C final in a 55.43.

GIRLS 100 BACK

• West Meet Record: 51.09, Regan Smith, 2016
• Jrs Meet Record: 51.09, Regan Smith, 2016

1. Katharine Berkoff – 51.95
2. Lucie Nordmann – 52.16
3. Julia Cook – 52.40

Katharine Berkoff came out on top in the 100 back, this time breaking the 52 second barrier and in the process, the pool record of 52.13 she set this morning. Berkoff used a fast 1st 50 of 25.04 to blast her way to her 2nd best time of the day and her first sub-52 performance. Lucie Nordmann also went went a personal best time, shaving .32 seconds off her previous best. Julia Cook came in 3rd, just .03 seconds off her personal best of 52.37. Also of note, Zoe Bartel came back after a record-breaking 100 breast in the previous event to come in 6th in the 100 back with a best time performance of 53.20.

Ayla Spitz took the B final with a 53.46, while Merideth Rees won the C with a 54.21.

BOYS 100 BACK

• West Meet Record: 45.48, Ryan Hoffer, 2015
• Jrs Meet Record: 45.48, Ryan Hoffer, 2015

1. Jack Dolan – 47.10
2. Gianluca Urlando – 47.62
3. Noah Henry – 47.90

Jack Dolan picked up his 2nd Gold medal of the day, winning the 100 back by over half a second. The top 3 finishers all had a very tight 1st 50, with Bronze Medalist Noah Henry having the fastest split at 22.84, Dolan next at 22.88, and Gianluca Urlando 3rd at 22.90. Dolan then opened up on the rest of the field with a much faster 24.22 2nd 50 split. Urlando is only 15 and his 2nd place finsh in this event came after his 3rd place finish in the 100 fly.

Jason Park put up another big performance in finals, this time winning the B final in a 47.58, which would have been 2nd in the A final. Aiden Hayes won the C final with a 49.23.

GIRLS 200 FREE RELAY

• West Meet Record: 1:30.09, SwimMAC, 2015
• Jrs Meet Record: 1:30.09, SwimMAC, 2015

1. Fort Collins ‘A’ – 1:30.41
2. Delta Aquatics ‘A’ – 1:32.52
3. Brea Aquatics ‘A’ – 1:32.60

Fort Collins, which already broke a relay NAG this weekend in the 200 medley relay, came very close to taking down another one with their time of 1:30.41, just .29 seconds off the NAG. The team of Audrey Reimer, Zoe Bartel, Coleen Gillian, and Kylee Alons blew away the field by over 2 seconds. Reimer led off with a 23.35, followed by Bartel at 22.94, then Gillian at 22.10, and lastly Kylee Alons with a sizzling 22.02 on the end. Their combined 2nd 100 split of 44.12 was the fastest in the field by over a second and a half. with that win, Zoe Bartel and Coleen Gillian each picked up their 3rd medal of the night.

BOYS 200 FREE RELAY

• West Meet Record: 1:19.03, Bolles School Sharks, 2012
• Jrs Meet Record: 1:19.03, Bolles School Sharks, 2012

1. Rancho San Dieguito ‘A’ – 1:22.57
2. Irvine Novaqautics ‘A’ – 1:22.66
3. Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics ‘A’ – 1:23.32

Rancho San Dieguito came from the 5th heat of boys relays to win the event, beating out Irvine Novaquatics, who was sitting comfortably in 1st after the fastest 2 seeded heats. The team of Dylan Delaney, Brandon Kulik, Stephan Lukashev, and Tyler Gruwell came in .09 seconds faster than Novaquatics, and all 4 swimmers from both Rancho San Dieguito and Irvine Novaquatics split 20-points. For Ranch San Dieguito, Delaney led-off in 20.54, Kulik follwed in 20.63, Lukashev then went 20.42, and Gruwell anchored in 20.98. Ont he Irvine Novaquatics team, Sean Slusiewicz led-off with a 20.47, Owen Kao went next with a 20.89, followed by another 20.89 out of Shawn Lou, and was anchored by Hunter Hitchens at 20.41.