2021 MINNESOTA INVITE
- Wednesday, December 1st – Saturday, December 4th, 2021
- Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center, Minneapolis, Minn.
- Prelims – 10 AM / Finals – 6 PM (CST)
- SCY (25y)
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results
- Meet Mobile – “Minnesota Invite 2021”
- Live Stream (fee)
Women’s 100 Fly
- Emma Sticklen (Texas) – 50.76
- Olivia Bray (Texas) – 51.19
- Maggie MacNeil (Michigan) – 51.27
- Isabel Ivey (California) – 51.81
- Kelly Pash (Texas) – 51.95
- Olivia Carter (Michigan) – 52.09
- Julia Heimstead (Arizona) – 52.76
- Mackenzie McConagha (Wisconsin) – 52.79
Texas sophomore Emma Skicklen is the top seed heading into tonight’s finals. Sticklen broke 51 seconds for the first time in her career (50.76), cutting .7 off her lifetime best of 51.49. Sticken placed 11th (51.91) at last year’s NCAA Championships, so she’s already well ahead of where she ended last season.
Maggie MacNeil was right off her season-best of 51.22, but well off her lifetime best of 48.89. MacNeil, the current NCAA Record Holder, became the first woman to break 48 seconds in the 100 fly at last year’s NCAA Championships.
When MacNeil went 48.89, she split 22.6/26.2, compared to 24.5/26.7 this morning. She was out significantly slower, but could be saving up for the 100 back later in the session as well as tonight’s final.
Men’s 100 Fly
- Zachary Van Zandt (Texas) – 45.60
- Umitcan Gures (Harvard) – 45.79
- Gal Cohen Groumi (Michigan) – 45.87*
- Alvin Jiang (Texas) – 45.87*
- Anthony Grimm (Texas) – 46.09
- Dean Farris (Harvard) – 46.17
- Bence Szabados (Michigan) – 46.44
- Dare Rose (California) – 46.46
Texas qualified 4 men into the A-Final, led by sophomore Zach Van Zandt. Coming into the meet, he was ranked 14th with a 48.91. Van Zandt split 21.16/24.44, dropping over 3 seconds from his in-season time.
Michigan’s Gal Cohen Groumi and Texas’ Alvin Jiang tied for 3rd at 45.87.
Dean Farris is 6th (46.17), dropping 1.1 seconds off his previous lifetime best of 47.21 from October. That’s a huge improvement for Farris, who’s primarily known for his freestyle and backstroke events.
Women’s 400 IM
- Kathyrn Ackerman (Michigan) – 4:07.38
- Megan Van Berkom (Minnesota) – 4:10.38
- Alicia Wilson (California) – 4:11.49
- Annika McEnroe (California) – 4:13.61
- Leah Polonsky (California) – 4:13.66
- Felicia Pasadyn (Harvard) – 4:13.82
- Evie Pfeifer (Texas) – 4:14.80
- Sarah DiMeco (California) – 4:17.02
California will look to make a statement tonight as they’ve qualified 4 women into the 400 IM A-Final. Michigan’s Kathyrn Ackerman is the top seed, who was just off her lifetime best of 4:06.95 that she swam at the 2021 NCAA Championships.
Minnesota’s Megan Van Berkom cut a few tenths off her previous best time from 2019. Last season, she placed 33rd in the 400 IM (4:14.96) at NCAAs; However, her new best time would’ve earned ranked her 21st.
Evie Pfeifer, who placed 6th at NCAAs (4:06.29), and has been 4:04.61, was well off those times in this morning’s prelims (4:14.80).
Men’s 400 IM
- Carson Foster (Texas) – 3:38.68
- Jake Foster (Texas) – 3:40.69
- Brooks Fail (Arizona) – 3:41.99
- Sean Grieshop (California) – 3:43.01
- Jared Daigle (Michigan) – 3:43.33
- Braden Vines (Texas) – 3:44.24
- Caleb Aman (Wisconsin) – 3:44.79
- Chris Jhong (California) – 3:48.03
Carson Foster, Jake Foster, and Sean Grieshop were all top-5 in this event at last year’s NCAA Championships. Both Foster brothers were just off what they were at those championships, which indicates that we could see some big swims from the Foster brothers tonight.
Carson Foster was 3:40.48 at a dual meet with UVA last month. He boasts a personal best time of 3:35.27 from last season, which marked him as the 2nd fastest performer in history.
Carson Foster will be racing for Team USA at the 2021 Short Course World Championships later this month.
Grieshop, one of California’s clutch 5th-year athletes, is seeded 4th heading into tonight’s finals. Grieshop placed 3rd in this event (3:38.73) at the 2021 NCAA Championships.
Women’s 200 Free
- Isabel Ivey (California) – 1:44.44
- Robin Neumann (California) – 1:45.74
- Ayla Spitz (California) – 1:45.84
- Lillie Hosack (Wisconsin) – 1:46.25
- Kelly Pash (Texas) – 1:46.46
- Abby Carlson (Wisconsin) – 1:46.40
- Sophia Kudryashova (Michigan) – 1:46.81
- Mia Motekaitis (California) – 1:46.82
California put 4 more female athletes into an A-Final, including the top-3: Isabel Ivey, Robin Neumann, and Ayla Spitz.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Silver Medalist Erica Sullivan will swim in the E-Final as she was only 30th in prelims.
Men’s 200 Free
- Patrick Callan (Michigan) – 1:33.09
- Gabriel Jett (California) – 1:33.25
- Luke Hobson (Texas) – 1:33.59
- Peter Larson (Texas) – 1:33.87
- Coby Carrozza (Texas) – 1:33.97
- Daniel Namir (Arizona) – 1:34.13
- Jake Mitchell (Michigan) – 1:34.25
- Hunter Ingram (Arizona) – 1:34.46
3 Team USA Olympians from Tokyo were featured in this event: Patrick Callan, who’s the top seed for tonight, Jake Mitchell, and Drew Kibler.
Callan and Kibler both swam the prelims of the 4×200 free relay in Tokyo, while Mitchell swam the individual 400 free.
Mitchell placed 7th out of prelims, while his Olympic teammate Kibler (Texas) was unable to secure a slot in the A-Final, finishing 9th in 1:34.86.
Even without Kibler, Texas has 3 men in the A-Final: Luke Hobson, Peter Larson, and Coby Carrozza.
Women’s 100 Breast
- Anna Elendt (Texas) – 58.78
- Jade Neser (Arizona) – 59.83
- Letitia Sim (Michigan) – 1:00.01
- Emma Rajic (California) – 1:00.31
- Leah Polonsky (California) – 1:00.85
- Emma Lezer (Minnesota) – 1:01.12
- Jenna Silvestri (Wisconsin) – 1:01.58
- Mallory Jump (Wisconsin) – 1:01.75
Anna Elendt dropped the only 58 second 100 breast of the prelims. Her 58.78 is a little off her 58.06 personal best, but that’s a great mid-season prelims swim.
Wisconsin was able to secure two athletes into the final, as Jenna Silvestri and Mallory Jump, their transfer from Iowa, took 7th and 8th in prelims.
Men’s 100 Breast
- Caspar Corbeau (Texas) – 51.07
- Max McHugh (Minnesota) – 51.18
- Reece Whitley (California) – 51.52
- Will Myhre (Wisconsin) – 52.29
- Liam Bell (California) – 52.36
- Will Chan (Michigan) – 52.62
- Ryan Foote (Arizona) – 53.08
- Mason Hunter (Michigan) – 53.11
The top seed in the 100 breast wasn’t Max McHugh, but it shouldn’t surprise you that Toyko 2020 Olympian Caspar Corbeau topped the heats. Corbeau has established himself as an elite breaststroker in both short course and long course, culminating with an Olympic birth for the Netherlands this summer.
Corbeau hit a personal best of 51.07 in the prelims, taking the race out in a blistering 23.94. That time beats his previous time from the Minnesota Invite in 2019 (51.46). Corbeau was 51.62 when he placed 6th at the 2021 NCAA Championships.
Max McHugh was 2nd out of prelims, taking the race out in 24.05, just behind Corbeau. McHugh’s back-half was where he fell off the pace, splitting 27.13 on the back-end. His time was exactly 1 second off his best time, which was achieved when he won the NCAA title in 2021.
Cal’s Reece Whitley was the other sub-52 swim (51.52) as he finished 3rd out of the prelims.
Women’s 100 Back
- Olivia Bray (Texas) – 51.72
- Julia Cook (Texas) – 51.95
- Isabelle Stadden (California) – 51.95
- Aria Bernal (Arizona) – 52.15
- Emma Sticklen (Texas) – 52.27
- Phoebe Bacon (Wisconsin) – 52.78
- Kaylyn Schoof (Wisconsin) – 52.91
- Kackenzie McConagha (Wisconsin) – 52.96
The women’s 100 back saw a quick prelims as it took a sub-53 to qualify for the A-Final. Sticklen earned the 5th spot in this event after earning the top spot in the 100 fly earlier in the session.
Olivia Bray, who’s best is 51.04, took the top spot with a 51.72 prelims swim. She split the race well (25.14/26.58), but needs to be out faster tonight if she hopes to crack the 51-second barrier.
Men’s 100 Back
- Daniel Carr (California) – 45.97
- Cameron Auchinachie (Texas) – 46.01
- Destin Lasco (California) – 46.15
- Wyatt Davis (Michigan) – 46.24
- Anthony Grimm (Texas) – 46.40
- Alvin Jiang (Texas) – 46.82
- Chris O’Connor (Texas) – 46.97
- Jason Park (Texas) – 47.36
Cal’s other massive 5th-year athlete, Daniel Carr, took the top spot with the only sub-46 swim of the prelims. Another talented Cal Bear, Destin Lasco, took the 3rd seed. Lasco placed 3rd at last year’s NCAAs and also swam a sub-45 100 back (44.49).
Cameron Auchinachie, who dropped a massive 18.80 50 free last night, took the 2nd seed with a 46.15. Wyatt Davis, Anthony Grimm, Alvin Jiang, Chris O’Connor, and Jason Park round out the Top-8.
Tonight will feature finals of all these individual events, in addition to the 200 free relays and the 1650 finals.
Anyone else surprised at Cal’s depth and does anyone think they can make a statement in March?
Are you referring to the Cal men or Cal women?
Cal women
i think dean f. would have killer 2fly
Women’s 200 free seems to be slower than a couple years ago.
The real question is whether Dean will even qualify for NCAAs this year.
Do we think Carson is un-rested or on cruise control? Only 2 seconds faster than a speedo on a dual meet…
A best time for Jake!
Geez, I don’t know. Could it just be a prelim thing? smh
It’s prelims. I’d guess 3:34 high tonight
There’s no reason to rest some of the top Texas guys beside they’ll qualify for NCAAs with very very little rest. Kibler didn’t shave so I doubt many others didn’t as well.
Carson seems to be able to swim well without a lot of rest so I doubt he was rested much for this meet. It was also prelims of a meet that he could go 10 seconds slower than his best time and still final so I doubt he pushed it in prelims.
Women’s 100 back misspelled Mackenzie lol