2019 NCSA Spring Juniors: Day 4 Final Live Recap

2019 NCSA SPRING JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 19th-23rd, 2019
• YMCA of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida
• 25y (SCY) in prelims & finals
• Timeline
• Psych Sheets
• Meet Central & results
• Live stream
• Day 4 Prelims Recap
• Day 4 Finals Heat Sheet

The fourth day of the 2019 NCSA spring juniors will feature the 100 back, 200 breast, 100 fly, fastest heats of the 200 free relay, as well as the girls 500 free and the boys 100 free.

There weren’t many surprises this morning, as Potomac Valley LSC swimmers earned lane four in most of tonight’s A-finals, including Phoebe Bacon (100 back), Anthony Grimm (100 fly and 100 back), Paige McKenna (500 free), Anna Keating (200 breast), and Abby Harter (100 fly). The only top seeds from outside of the DC area will be Peter Larson (100 free) and Joshua Matheny (200 breast).

Girls 100 Back – Finals

1. Isabelle Stadden (Aquajets) – 51.23
2. Phoebe Bacon (NCAP) – 51.58
3. Reilly Tiltmann (Elmsbrook) – 52.93

Six of the eight A-finalist were 16 year-olds, but all eyes were on the two 16 year-olds in  the middle two lanes, Isabelle Stadden and Phoebe Bacon, as the pair dueled it out. Bacon had the faster time this morning, but Stadden knocked almost 1.4s off of her prelims time to take the win by a quarter of a second. That’s a new personal best for Stadden by 0.1s, putting her just 0.05s behind Bacon for 2nd place all-time in the age group. 15 year-old Reilly Tiltmann took a half a second off of her time from this morning to take 3rd in 52.93.

Boys 100 Back – Finals

1. Anthony Grimm (Mako) – 45.60
2. Jack Dolan (Rockwood) – 47.07
3. Aidan Stoffle (Summit) – 47.29

We knew that a record could be in danger tonight, based on Anthony Grimm‘s swims in high school season and earlier tonight, and sure enough, the 16 year-old blasted a 45.60 that broke the National Age Group record set by Gianluca Ulrando back in December.

Jack Dolan, who sits #8 all-time in the 15-16 age group, but who now is 18, took 2nd in 47.07, followed by fellow 18 year-old Aidan Stoffle, who rounded out the top three with a 47.29.

Girls 500 Free – Finals

1. Paige McKenna (NCAP) – 4:41.21
2. Rachel Stege (Fox Valley) – 4:43.24
3. Rachel Klinker (Lexington Dolphins) – 4:44.16

15 year-old Paige McKenna earned her second individual victory of the meet after the winning the 1000 earlier this week. Tonight, McKenna won by two seconds over fellow 15 year old Rachel Stege, who also finished 2nd in the 1000 free.

Rachel Klinker earned her second top-three finish with a 4:44.16 tonight. She’s finished 3rd in the 200 free and 4th in 1000 free so far this meet.

Boys 100 Free – Finals

1. Jack Dolan (Rockwood) – 43.56
2. Luke Maurer (WILD) – 44.00
3. Peter Larson (Edina) – 44.14

Jack Dolan and top-seeded Peter Larson were tied after 50, with both flipping at exactly 20.96. But Dolan was able to bring it home faster, even after swimming the 100 back earlier in the session. Luke Maurer nearly matched Dolan’s back half, ultimately taking 2nd in in 44.00, while Dolan won in 43.56 and Larson took 3rd in 44.14

Dolan was our 3rd-ranked recruit in the high school boys class of 2019, and he’ll be attending Arizona State in the fall. His 100 free time tonight would’ve put him in the B-final at Pac-12s last week and he could provide an immediate boost to the Sun Devils’ sprint corps.

Girls 200 Breast – Final

1. Anna Keating (Machine) – 2:09.26
2. Kaeyln Gridley (New Trier) / Meghan Lynch (Greenwich YWCA Dolphins) – 2:13.04
3. (tie)

Anna Keating moved into the top ten all-time in the 15-16 age group with a 2:09.26 victory in the 200 breast. She was already 11th with a personal best of 2:09.63, but that additional improvement moves her up one spot on the all-time list, according to the SWIMS database. That’s the second victory of the meet for the UVA commit, who won the 100 breast earlier in the week.

14 year-old Kaeyln Gridley and 15 year-old Meghan Lynch tied for 2nd in 2:13.04. That time moves Gridley up from 24th to 16th all-time in the 13-14 age group.

Boys 200 Breast – Final

1. Joshua Matheny (PEAQ) – 1:55.03
2. Bernhard Christiansen (NAAC) – 1:57.02
3. Jason Louser (LIAC) – 1:57.04

16 year-old Joshua Matheny took the win here in a dominant fashion, crushing a 1:55.03 that moves him up to #3 all-time in the 15-16 age group. Matheny was already 4th all-time with his 1:55.27 from the Speedo Winter Juniors, and tonight’s time moves him of Ethan Dang’s 1:55.26. Only Reece Whitley (1:52.37) and Andrew Seliskar (1:54.87) have been faster in the age group.

Matheny has had the quite the progression over the past couple of years, going from 2:01.86 as a 14 year-old to 1:58.26 last March to now 1:55.03 this year.

Behind him, three men were dueling it out for 2nd place. Berhard Christiansen managed to hold off Jason Louser and Dylan Rhee in a close finish, as all three meant touched within 0.12s of each other.

Girls 100 Fly – Final

1. Abby Harter (NCAP) – 52.31
2. Phoebe Bacon (NCAP) – 52.33
3. Lexi Cuomo (MAKO) – 52.42

Nation Capital’s Abby Harter got her on the wall first in a tight race against teammate Phoebe Bacon and Mako’s Lexi Cuomo.

Harter went out fast in 24.37, with Cuomo just behind her at 24.47. Bacon charged home the 2nd 50, but came up just 0.02s shy of Harter, who won 52.31 to 52.33. Harter had only ranked 85th in the 15-16 age group with her seed time of 53.51, but moved into the top 40 in the 17-18 age group with tonight’s time. Bacon’s time tonight moved her past Janet Hu in the 15-16 age group, and should put her at #14 all-time. Lexi Cuomo,who put up a 52.01 at Virginia Class 6 high school states to crack the top 30 all-time in the 17-18 age group, couldn’t quite match that time tonight, but took 3rd in 52.42.

Boys 100 Fly – Final

1. Alexander Colson (Rockville Montgomery) – 47.32
2. Timothy Marski (LIAC) – 47.80
3. Wesley Jekel (BAC) – 48.43

Grimm appeared to pick up his 2nd win of the night with a 46.79 victory in the 100 fly that would’ve moved him up to #8 all-time in the 15-16 age group, but was disqualified. We didn’t hear any reason for the DQ on the live feed.

With Grimm’s DQ, the official title went to Alexander Colson, who used the fastest 2nd 50 in the field to run down Timothy Marski, who finished 2nd in 47.80. 3rd place went to Welsey Jekel, who was just behind Colson at the halfway point, and held on for a 48.43.

Girls 200 Free Relay – Timed Final

1. Aquajets Swim Team – 1:30.86
2. Nation’s Capital – 1:31.13
3. Delta Aquatics – 1:31.82

Stadden led off in 22.71, and the Aquajets got a pair of 23 splits from Jordan McGinty and Peyton D’Emmanuele before Abigail Kapeller anchored in a whopping 21.84 to secure the victory for the Aquajets.

Boys 200 Free Relay – Timed Final

1. St. Charles Swim Team – 1:22.40
2. Rockville Montgomery Swim Club – 1:23.11
3. Nation’s Capital – 1:23.27

Aleksej Filipovic led off in 21.17, Matthew Nagler and Calvin Windle split 20.71 and 20.59, respectively, and William Myhyre anchored in 19.93 to give St. Charles a 0.71s win over Rockville and Nation’s Capital.