2021 Minnesota Invite Prelims: Auchinachie Drops First Sub-19 50 Free Of Season

2021 MINNESOTA INVITE

• Wednesday, December 1 – Saturday, December 4, 2021
• Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center, Minneapolis, Minn.
• Prelims – 10 AM / Finals – 6 PM (CST)
• SCY (25y)
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Results also on Meet Mobile as “Minnesota Invite 2021”
• Live Stream (fee)
• Day 1 Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Heat Sheet

Plenty of fast swims were produced during the first preliminary session of the Minnesota Invite, including Texas freshman Luke Hobson crushing a 4:12.1 in the men’s 500 free and Longhorn graduate senior Cameron Auchinachie sizzling to an 18.9 in the men’s 50 free.

Check out a recap of all six prelim events below:

Women’s 500 Freestyle

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 4:35.76
• 2021 NCAA Cutline: 4:44.77
• Pool Record: 4:32.53, Brittany Maclean (UGA), 2014

1. Evie Pfeifer (TEX), 4:41.13
2. Kathryn Ackerman (MICH), 4:41.66
3. Ayla Spitz (CAL), 4:41.88
4. Paige McKenna (WISC), 4:43.93
5. Erica Sullivan (TEX), 4:44.06
6. Fanni Fabian (CAL), 4:45.45
7. Mia Motekaitis (CAL), 4:45.89
8. Sarah DiMeco (CAL), 4:46.45

Texas fifth-year Evie Pfeifer led the women’s 500 free prelims in 4:41.13, edging out Michigan sophomore Kathryn Ackerman (4:41.66) and Cal junior Ayla Spitz (4:41.88) in the seventh and final heat.

Pfeifer, the runner-up in the event at last season’s NCAAs, moves into 14th in the nation in 2021-22, while Ackerman’s time improves her lifetime best of 4:42.58 set earlier this season.

Wisconsin freshman Paige McKenna (4:43.93) held off fellow first-year Erica Sullivan (4:44.06) of Texas to win the sixth heat and qualify fourth overall into the final.

Men’s 500 Freestyle

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 4:11.62
• 2021 NCAA Cutline: 4:16.75
• Pool Record: 4:08.60, Townley Haas (TEX), 2018

1. Luke Hobson (TEX), 4:12.12
2. Coby Carrozza (TEX), 4:13.50
3. Patrick Callan (MICH), 4:13.56
4. Alex Zettle (TEX), 4:14.19
5. Brooks Fail (ARIZ), 4:14.76
6. Gabriel Jett (CAL), 4:15.06
7. Bar Soloveychik (MINN), 4:15.84
8. Sean Grieshop (CAL), 4:16.01

Five of the top seven qualifiers in the men’s 500 free came out of the eighth and final heat, with University of Texas freshman Luke Hobson leading the way in a blistering time of 4:12.12.

Hobson and sophomore teammate Coby Carrozza were separated by less than a tenth at the 400-yard turn, but Hobson switched on the afterburners and closed with splits of 24.82/24.27 to touch first by well over a second.

Hobson, 18, crushes his previous personal best time of 4:16.56, set in March, and moves into third in the NCAA rankings this season.

Carrozza also hit a new PB in 4:13.50 to qualify second for the final, lowering his 4:14.31 set at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite almost one year ago to the day, and Michigan senior Patrick Callan (4:13.56) paced the penultimate heat to advance in third.

Along with Hobson, two other freshmen that hit massive best times were Cal’s Gabriel Jett and Minnesota’s Bar Soloveychik, who qualified sixth and seventh overall.

Jett lowered his previous best of 4:22.53 in 4:15.06, while Soloveychik, an Israeli native that only started swimming yards a few months ago, clocked 4:15.84 to go almost 14 seconds faster than he went in early November in a dual meet against Wisconsin (4:29.71).

Women’s 200 IM

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:53.66
• 2021 NCAA Cutline: 1:57.62
• Pool Record: 1:52.50, Maya Dirado (STAN), 2014

1. Izzy Ivey (CAL), 1:54.63
2. Phoebe Bacon (WISC), 1:55.68
3. Kelly Pash (TEX), 1:56.03
4. Letitia Sim (MICH), 1:56.61
5. Olivia Bray (TEX), 1:57.49
6. Meghan Van Berkom (MINN), 1:57.50
7. Emma Sticklen (TEX), 1:57.67
8. Isabelle Stadden (CAL), 1:57.84

Cal’s Izzy Ivey popped off a sizzling time of 1:54.63 in the women’s 200 IM prelims out of Heat 5, her fastest swim since the 2019 NCAAs, to lead the field into the final.

Ivey, who owns a best of 1:53.87 from those 2019 NCAAs, is now the third-fastest swimmer in the country this season.

Wisconsin sophomore Phoebe Bacon led the penultimate heat in 1:55.68 to advance in second, just over a second off her PB from last season’s NCAAs (1:54.55).

Texas junior Kelly Pash sits third in 1:56.03, and Michigan freshman Letitia Sim, the #1 seed coming in, won the final heat to qualify fourth in 1:56.61. That time improves Sim’s PB of 1:57.16 set at the SMU Classic in early October.

Men’s 200 IM

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 1:41.34
• 2021 NCAA Cutline: 1:44.15
• Pool Record: 1:39.54, Jan Switkowski (FLOR), 2018

1. Jake Foster (TEX), 1:42.56
2. Caspar Corbeau (TEX), 1:42.72
3. Destin Lasco (CAL), 1:42.97
4. Gal Cohen Groumi (MICH), 1:43.22
5. Jared Daigle (MICH), 1:44.62
6. Jake Johnson (HARV), 1:44.67
7. Reece Whitley (CAL), 1:45.69
8. Wes Jekel (WISC), 1:45.78

Texas juniors Jake Foster (1:42.56) and Caspar Corbeau (1:42.72) went 1-2 in the eighth and final heat of the men’s 200 IM to cruise into the top-two spots for tonight’s final. The two men move into fifth and sixth in the NCAA rankings this season, with Arizona State freshman Leon Marchand marking the only swimmer that’s been sub-1:42 (1:40.80).

Cal sophomore Destin Lasco, who was third in this event at the 2021 NCAAs, qualified third in 1:42.97 from the seventh heat, using the field’s fastest backstroke (25.14) and freestyle splits (24.71) to get there.

Women’s 50 Free

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 21.66
• 2021 NCAA Cutline: 22.32
• Pool Record: 20.90, Abbey Weitzeil (CAL), 2019

1. Maggie MacNeil (MICH), 22.05
2. Lindsay Flynn (MICH), 22.12
3. Elise Garcia (CAL), 22.20
4. Emily Gantriis (CAL), 22.22
5. Emma Sticklen (TEX), 22.24
6. Claire Newman (MICH), 22.27
7. Hannah Cornish (MINN), 22.44
8. Lillie Hosack (WISC), 22.47

Michigan senior Maggie MacNeil paced the tightly-contested women’s 50 free heats where the top 27 finishers were all within a second of one another.

MacNeil, the 2021 NCAA runner-up, clocked 22.05 from the last heat, while freshman teammate Lindsay Flynn dropped a near-best of 22.12 from the penultimate heat to take second.

Flynn, who anchored last night’s 200 medley relay in 21.54, owns a flat-start best of 22.03 from December 2020.

Cal’s Elise Garcia (22.20) and Emily Gantriis (22.22) qualified third and fourth, while Texas’ Emma Sticklen, who also made the ‘A’ final in the 200 IM, advanced fifth in 22.24. Garcia anchored the Bears’ medley relay on Wednesday evening in 21.55.

The time for Sticklen is also a new PB, lowering her 22.50 set one year ago at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite.

Men’s 50 Free

• NCAA ‘A’ Cut: 18.96
• 2021 NCAA Cutline: 19.46
• Pool Record: 17.63, Caeleb Dressel (FLOR), 2018

1. Cameron Auchinachie (TEX), 18.94
2. Bjorn Seeliger (CAL), 19.13
3. Daniel Krueger (TEX), 19.22
4. Drew Kibler (TEX), 19.36
5. Cam Peel (MICH) / Bence Szabados (MICH), 19.52
6. –
7. Alvin Jiang (TEX), 19.65
8. Dean Farris (HARV), 19.66

University of Texas graduate senior Cameron Auchinachie dropped the first official sub-19 flat-start 50 free of the season in 18.94, lowering his previous best time of 19.13 from the 2019 NCAAs.

Auchinachie overtakes LSU’s Brooks Curry (19.09) for the top time in the nation.

Auchinachie transferred to Texas in the summer for grad school after four seasons at the University of Denver.

Cal sophomore Bjorn Seeliger, the 2021 NCAA runner-up in the event, qualified second in 19.13, and Texas’ Daniel Krueger (19.22) and Drew Kibler (19.36) rank third and fourth.