2019 Speedo Junior National Championships: Day 4 Prelims Live Recap

2019 USA Swimming Speedo Junior National Championships

• Tuesday, August 6 – Saturday, August 10, 2019
• Stanford Avery Aquatic Center, Palo Alto, CA
• Prelims 9 AM / Finals 5 PM (U.S. Pacific Time)
• LCM format
• Psych sheet
• Live stream (all sessions)
• Start Lists & Live Results

Friday morning heat sheets

The morning session on Day Four of the 2019 U.S. Junior National Championships will consist of ten heats of women’s 200 freestyle, twelve heats of men’s 200 freestyle, ten heats of women’s 200 breaststroke, thirteen heats of men’s 200 breaststroke, seventeen heats of women’s 100 backstroke, and sixteen heats of men’s 100 backstroke.

The women’s 200 free will be headlined by top seed Justina Kozan. 400 free champ Jillian Cox, Miranda Heckman, and Ellie Marquardt will also be contenders for the title. Jack Walker, who won the 400 free and placed fourth in the 100 free, is top seed in the 200. He’ll be joined by Ian Grum, 200 back and 400 IM champ and 100 free runner-up; Colby Mefford, bronze medalist in the 200 back and B-final winner in the 400 free; and James Plage, winner in the 800 free and runner-up in the 400 free. Lydia Jacoby, who won the 100 breast, 400 IM champion Samantha Tadder, Grace Rainey, Chase Davison, and Brynn Curtis are all names to watch in the women’s 200 breast. Maxwell Reich, who took fourth in the 100 breast on Tuesday, is top seed in the 200. Dylan Rhee and Ethan Dang are seeded second and third, but watch for big performances from Ben Dillard and Liam Bell, the latter of whom won the 100 breast. Top-seeded Alexandra Crisera is looking to repeat her 2018 junior national crown in the 100 back. But this is her second consecutive week in Palo Alto and her fatigue is beginning to show. She’ll be challenged by Felicia Pasadyn, Kennedy Noble, and Maggie Wanezek, who went 1-2-3 in the 200 back, and by Abby Kapeller and Tristen Ulett. Tim Connery is the number one seed in the men’s 100 back but the favorite will be Ian Grum, who set the meet record in the 200 back on Wednesday night. Hunter Armstrong, Colby Mefford, Aaron Sequeira, Nathan Hayes, and Jake Marcum are among the top seeds who will be gunning for Connery and Grum.

Women’s 200 Free – Prelims

• World Record: 1:52.98 7/29/2009 Federica Pellegrini
• World Junior Record: 1:55.43 7/24/2019 Juxuon Yang
• Meet Record: 1:58.26 8/11/2011 Lia Neal
• U.S. Open Record: 1:54.40 6/25/2012 Allison Schmitt
• Olympic Trials Cut: 2:01.69

Megan Drumm of North Baltimore was the first sub-2:04, winning heat 5 with 2:03.25. Drumm came from behind to pass Felicia Pasadyn (2:03.50) over the last 20 meters. Both were seeded with yards times. Kensley Merritt of SwimMAC Carolina took the next heat in 2:03.77 from the outside lane.

Team Greenville’s Riley Parker won heat 7 from out in lane 8, dropping 1.6 seconds to stop the clock at 2:02.23. Behind her was Faith Hefner from SwimMAC Caroline in 2:04.15.

Ella Ristic from Irvine Novaquatics was first to the wall in heat 8, going 2:01.86. Lakeside Aquatic Club’s Riley Francis touched .03 behind in 2:01.89 while SwimAtlanta’s Emma Alexander was third in 2:01.92.

The penultimate heat went to Miranda Heckman of Pleasanton Seahawks in 2:01.73. She won by about a body length over Chloe Stepanek from Long Island Aquatic Club (2:03.17) and Ella Marquardt of ATOM (2:03.64). 13-year-old Leah Hayes was disqualified for a false start.

Top-seeded Justina Kozan of Brea Aquatics won the final heat in 2:01.51. Kayla Wilson of Tide Swimming (2:02:28) and Tristen Ulett of Dynamo (2:02.58) were second and third.

Top 8 qualifiers:

1. Justina Kozan, 2:01.51
2. Miranda Heckman, 2:01.73
3. Ella Ristic, 2:01.86
4. Riley Francis, 2:01.89
5. Ella Bathurst, 2:01.92
6. Cora Dupre, 2:02.16
7. Riley Parker, 2:02.23
8. Kayla Wilson, 2:02.28

Men’s 200 Free – Prelims

• World Record: 1:42.00 7/28/2009 Paul Biedermann
• World Junior Record: 1:46.40 8/24/2017 Ivan Girev
• Meet Record: 1:47.75 8/3/2018 Alexei Sancov
• U.S. Open Record: 1:44.10 7/1/2008 Michael Phelps
• Olympic Trials Cut: 1:50.79

Matthew Jensen of Upper Dublin Aquatic Club clocked a 1:53.60 to win heat 3 from an outside lane. Hunter Armstrong of Canton City Schools took the next heat in 1:53.26. In heat 6, Alec Delong of Carmel Swim Club (1:53.02) won by .02 over North Baltimore’s Will Hoogenboom and Lin-Mar Swim Team’s Dylan Moffatt, who tied at 1:53.04. Billy Swartwout of Long Island Aquatic Club was disqualified for a false start in that heat.

Liam Smith of Upper Dublin went 1:53.78 to edge Jadan Nabor of YMCA Westside Silver Dolphins (1:53.97) in heat 7. Tyler Mansheim won a very tight heat 8 from the outside lane, going 1:54.65. Behind him, all bunched together, were Will Blake, Brendan Hausdorf, Jacob Rosner, and Luke Davis.

Donald Scott went 1:52.31 to take 1.6 seconds off his seed time and get to the wall just ahead of Brooks Curry of Dynamo (1:52.40, a PB by 1.4 seconds). Ben Forbes of Clovis won the first circle-seeded heat in 1:51.90 to take over the lead for the morning. Just behind him were Sierra Marlins Swim Team’s Colby Mefford (1:51.96) and Zach Hils of Lexington Dolphins (1:52.23).

Luke Maurer of Nasa Wildcats dropped 1.6 seconds to win the penultimate heat in 1:51.89, with Carmel’s Gus Rothrock (1:51.92) and SwimMAC’s Hugh Svendsen (1:51.93) just behind. Jack Walker of SwimMAC rocked a 1:50.61 to take the final heat with the morning’s fastest time, 1:50.61. Hunter Ingram from Irvine NOVA went 1:51.70 for second; Rafael Gu of Rose Bowl was 1:53.17 for third. Jacob McDonald of Mason Manta Rays was disqualified for a false start. Christian Bathurst and Nabor tied for 24th place but declined to have a swim-off.

Top 8 qualifiers:

1. Jack Walker, 1:50.61
2. Hunter Ingram, 1:51.70
3. Luke Maurer, 1:51.89
4. Ben Forbes, 1:51.90
5. Hugh Svendsen, 1:51.93
6. Colby Mefford, 1:51.96
7. Zach Hils, 1:52.23
8. Donald Scott, 1:52.31

Women’s 200 Breast – Prelims

• World Record: 2:19.11 8/1/2013 Rikke Moeller Pedersen
• World Junior Record: 2:19.64 8/30/2015 Viktoria Gunes
• Meet Record: 2:26.35 8/13/2012 Allie Szekely
• U.S. Open Record: 2:20.38 7/7/2009 Rebecca Soni
• Olympic Trials Cut: 2:33.29

Paige McCormick of Hudson Explorer went 2:39.45 in heat 1, while Holley Dennis of Denver Hilltoppers was 2:37.38 in heat 2. Angelina Harris of Three Village Swim Team dropped 3.1 seconds to win heat 3 in 2:35.29. 13-year-old Lucy Thomas of Elevation Athletic was second in the heat with 2:36.69, a PB by 1.7.

Hannah Ownbey of Y-Spartaquatics went 2:36.61 to win heat 4 over Shelby Suppiger of Crow Canyon (2:37.41).

Anna Moore of Bolles School Sharks was 2:39.37 in the following heat, while Natalie Bercutt of UCD Aquamonsters edged Reese Lugbill of Mason Manta Rays to win heat 6, 2:36.47 to 2:36.54.

Sophia Zhang of Asphalt Green improved her seed time by 1.7 seconds to win heat 7 in 2:34.37.

Abigail Herscu of Livermore won the first circle-seeded heat with 2:32.98 to pick up an Olympic Trials cut. The 15-year-old improved her seed time by .99. Second in the heat was Annika McEnroe of Y-Spartaquatics with 2:33.50, a PB by 1 second.

Gigi Johnson of SwimAtlanta won heat 9 from the outside lane, going 2:34.78 for a .95 improvement on her seed time. Charity Pittard of Boise YMCA, in the other outside lane, came in second with 2:35.09. Hilltoppers’ Chase Davison was third in 2:35.36.

The final heat went to Emma Weber of Denver Hilltoppers with 2:33.36. 14-year-old Grace Rainey from SwimMAC Carolina was second with 2:35.35; Katie McClintock of Egg Harbor, third in 2:34.71. Lakeside Swim Team’s Claire Donan, the top seed in the event, was disqualified for multiple butterfly kicks off the wall.

Top 8 qualifiers:

1. Abigail Herscu, 2:32.98
2. Emma Weber, 2:33.36
3. Annika McEnroe, 2:33.50
4. Grace Rainey, 2:34.35
5. Sophia Zhang, 2:34.37
6. Brynn Curtis, 2:34.60
7. Katie McClintock, 2:34.71
8. Gigi Johnson, 2:34.78

Men’s 200 Breast – Prelims

• World Record: 2:06.12 7/26/2019 Anton Chupkov
• World Junior Record: 2:09.39 7/27/2017 Qin Haiyang
• Meet Record: 2:11.25 8/11/2017 Daniel Roy
• U.S. Open Record: 2:07.17 6/30/2016 Josh Prenot
• Olympic Trials Cut: 2:17.89

Alexander Sanchez of Metroplex Aquatics won heat 2 by a full body length with 2:22.11. Nitro’s Vincent Ribeiro was victorious in heat 3 with 2:23.66, a 2-second improvement from his seed time.

Karl Helmuth unleashed a monster swim to win heat 4. He dropped 5.5 seconds to win by two body lengths in 2:19.34. Kyle Demers of Tide Swimming went 2:23.44 for second in the heat, dropping 1.6 seconds. Kelby Modene of Aquajets was disqualified for arms not in sync in horizontal plane, and Quicksilver’s Geffen Chang was disqualified for multiple butterfly kicks during swim.

Colin Feehery of Lakeside dropped a 2:21.56 to win heat 5 by more than a body length. It was a 2.5-second improvement from his seed time. Henry Wang of Dallas Mustangs went a PB of 2:23.23 for second.

Aidan Simpson of Inland Coastal lowered his PB by nearly 2 seconds in heat 7, winning with 2:21.19 over Machine Aquatics’ Joe Schaefer (2:21.88, PB by 2.4). Cobi Lopez Miro of Bolles School Sharks dropped 3.4 seconds to win heat 8 in 2:19.27 over Zhier Fan of Metroplex (2:20.66, PB by 2.2).

Aidan Duffy from Nova of Virginia won heat 9 by two bodies, going 2:22.14 ahead of Bellevue Club’s Leo Zhang (2:24.44). Alex Deng was disqualified for multiple butterfly kicks after the turn. Kevin Houseman won the following heat in 2:20.07, followed by Zach Bartel from Fort Collins (2:21.09) and Andre Yarcan of Rose Bowl (2:21.69). Two more swimmers were disqualified in heat 10: Brendan Oshida form Dublin Community for multiple butterfly kicks after the turn, and Noah Beladi of Lakeside Aquatic Team for multiple butterfly kicks after the start.

Aquajets Swim Team’s Hayden Zheng unleashed a 2:17.16 to punch his ticket to Omaha and win the first circle-seeded heat. He dropped 1.2 seconds from his seed time. Coming in second was SWAC Swim Team’s Cameron Luarde in 2:18.85, followed by Noah Nichols from Poseidon Swimming (2:19.19, PB by 2.05 seconds).

Dylan Rhee of Asphalt Green was the winner of heat 12 with 2:15.37. Coming to the wall behind him were Liam Bell of US-Aquatics (2:17.42, a PB by 3.6 seconds) and Will Goodwin of Denver Hilltoppers (2:18.95, PB by .1).

Top-seeded Maxwell Reich of Phoenix Swimming claimed the final heat with the morning’s top time of 2:14.97. Brandon Stride of West Coast Aquatics (2:16.70) and Ben Dillard of Sierra Marlins (2:16.92) battled for second.

Top 8 qualifiers:

1. Maxwell Reich, 2:14.97
2. Dylan Rhee, 2:15.37
3. Brandon Stride, 2:16.70
4. Ben Dillard, 2:16.92
5. Hayden Zheng, 2:17.16
6. Liam Bell, 2:17.42
7. Cameron Luarde, 2:18.85
8. Will Goodwin, 2:18.93

Women’s 100 Back – Prelims

• World Record: 57.57 7/28/2019 Regan Smith
• World Junior Record: 57.57 7/28/2019 Regan Smith
• Meet Record: 59.77 8/14/2009 Rachel Bootsma
• U.S. Open Record: 58.00 7/28/2018 Kathleen Baker
• Olympic Trials Cut: 1:02.69

The first big drop came from 15-year-old Paige Hall of Machine Aquatics, who won heat 3 with 1:03.55, improving her seed time by 2 seconds. 14-year-old Sophie Brison of Dynamo was 1:04.25 in the following heat, taking half a second off her entry time. Lillianna Brooks of Denver Hilltoppers went 1:04.66 to win heat 5 from out in lane 1. Mackenzie Lanning from Lakeside Swim Team took the baton from Brooks and won heat 6, also from lane 1, with 1:04.63.

Heat 7 went to Kacey McKenna of North Baltimore in 1:04.35, while Colleen Duffy of Carmel Swim Club was victorious in heat 8 with 1:03.66. Amber Myers from Sierra Marlins improved her seed time by .4 to take heat 9 in 1:03.79 over Pleasanton’s Miranda Heckman (1:04.59).

Emma Karma from Reno Aquatic Club sliced a full second off her entry time to win heat 10 in 1:03.13 from lane 1, while Megan Dueul of Pack Swim Team edged Rosie Murphy of Sierra Marlins, 1:03.54 to 1:03.68, for second. Madeline Meredith of Lakeside went 1:03.94 in heat 11; she was followed by Weston’s Alexa Pappas (1:04.11) and Trident’s Kai-min Tsuei (1:04.19). Quinn Murphy from Phoenix Swim Club dropped .4 to win heat 12 with 1:03.33. Tide Swimming’s Abby Reardon (1:03.95) and Elevation Athletic’s Katey Lewicki (1:04.30) followed.

Sydney Silver of Hilltoppers improved her seed time by half a second to win heat 13 in 1:03.26 over Isabella Korbly (1:03.98). Empire KC’s Abby Karl was the first to break the 1:03 barrier when she won heat 14 with an Olympic Trials cut of 1:02.52. That’s a .96 improvement from her entry time. Ella Bathurst was second with 1:03.09, a .45 drop.

Dynamo’s Tristen Ulett won the first circle-seeded heat with 1:01.73, representing a .3 drop from her seed time. Kennedy Noble of YMCA Westside was second with 1:01.89, while Reilly Tiltmann of Elmbrook was third with 1:02.67.

Abby Kapeller of Aquajets (1:02.35), Grace Wey (1:02.45), and Casey Chung of Club Wolverine (1:02.75) went 1-2-3 in heat 16.

14-year-old Rye Ulett of Dynamo sliced .7 off her entry time to win the final heat in 1:01.41 over top-seeded Alexandra Crisera of Beach Cities (1:01.47). 13-year-old Maggie Wanezek of Elmbrook came in third with 1:02.88.

Top 8 qualifiers:

1. Rye Ulett, 1:01.41
2. Alexandra Crisera, 1:01.47
3. Tristen Ulett, 1:01.73
4. Kennedy Noble, 1:01.89
5. Abby Kapeller, 1:02.35
6. Grace Wey, 1:02.45
7. Abby Karl, 1:02.52
8. Reilly Tiltmann, 1:02.67

Men’s 100 Back – Prelims

• World Record: 51.85 8/13/2016 Ryan Murphy
• World Junior Record: 52.53 8/6/2018 Kliment Kolesnikov
• Meet Record: 54.99 8/2/2015 Michael Andrew
• U.S. Open Record: 51.94 7/8/2009 Aaron Peirsol
• Olympic Trials Cut: 56.59

Bainbridge Island’s Houseman, straight off his heat-winning performance in the 200 breast, swam all alone in heat 1 of the 100 back and went 1:06.09. Phoenix Swimming’s Reich and Victor Tremblay of Blue Tide were DNS. Christopher Paxton pf Powel Crosley was the heat 2 winner with 59.99 after Jon Bernard of Mason Manta Rays was disqualified for a 15-meter violation. Parker Bragg of Dynamo claimed heat 3 in best-by-1-second 58.14, while Samuel Jennings of Houston Bridge Bats (58.83) and Matthew Davidson of Lynchburg YMCA (57.96) won the next two heats from outside lanes.

Prime Aquatics’ Alex Mays (57.62) won heat 6 over Carmel’s Jack Smith (58.84) and United Swim Club’s Hayden Kwan was first to the wall in heat 7 with 57.68, an improvement of 1.1 seconds. Machine Aquatics’ Will Koeppen took over the leaderboard with a heat 8 win in 57.57. Heat 9 went to Lance Lesage of South Florida in 58.29 from lane 1.

Payton Plumb of Southern Utah was .55 faster than his seed time in winning heat 10 with 57.91. Kevin Childs of Canyons Aquatic Club came in second with 58.14, also a PB. William Cole of Lakeside Swim Team took over the lead in heat 11, going 58.23 for nearly a full-second drop. Second in the heat was Crow Canyon’s Allen Dempster with 57.58, a PB by .8.

Aaron Sequeira of Cincinnati Marlins went 57.17 to claim the victory in heat 12, with Justin Heimes of Upper Perk YMCA almost a second back in 58.12. Rose Bowl’s Mark McCrary had appeared to win the heat but was disqualified for being submerged prior to the finish.

Collin Schuster from Dubuque Area pummeled his previous best time, unleashing a 56.40 to win heat 13 by half a body length and score an Olympic Trials cut. Cade Oliver of Franklin Regional was second in 57.02, an improvement of .7.

Canton City Schools went 1-2 in the first circle-seeded heat and both swimmers dropped well over a second. Hunter Armstrong got the win with 55.14, dropping 1.26 seconds. Christopher O’Connor went 55.39 for second, taking 1.7 off his seed time and picking up his first Trials cut in the event. Sarpy County’s Luke Barr improved by .36 to take third in 56.63.

Ian Grum of Dynamo controlled the penultimate heat, touching first in 56.43. Battling for second place were Seattle Metro’s Nathan Hayes (57.08) and Barrington’s Griffin O’Leary (57.54).

Jake Marcum of McCallie/GPS closed out the morning heats with a 56.22 to win the final heat over SwimMAC’s Tim Connery (56.59) and Seattle’s Tyler Lu (57.15).

Top 8 qualifiers:

1. Hunter Armstrong, 55.14
2. Christopher O’Connor, 55.39
3. Jake Marcum, 56.22
4. Collin Schuster, 56.40
5. Ian Grum, 56.43
6. Tim Connery, 56.59
7. Luke Barr, 56.63
8. Mark McCrary, 56.88