2023 Winter Juniors – West: Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2023 Speedo Winter Junior Championships – West

• December 6-9, 2023
• FMC Natatorium, Westmont, Illinois
• Prelims: 9:00 am (CST)/ Finals: 5:00 pm (CST)
• Wednesday finals (relays only): 6:00 pm (CST)
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet Central (USA Swimming)
• How To Watch
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results or on Meet Mobile

Friday evening heat sheets

Lakeside Aquatic Club’s Maximus Williamson was top seed in the 400 IM, 200 free, and 100 back but this morning he did not swim the IM and was well off his times in the 200 free and 100 back. He may not be feeling 100%, because he scratched the 100 back final and will only swim the 200 free. There, he will be in lane 8, having qualified 8th this morning. Lakeside Aquatics’ Cooper Lucas (1:36.48) and Rose Bowl’s Nathan Kim (1:36.82) will occupy the middle lanes.

Tony Laurito from South Shore Sail (3:49.94) qualified 1st for the 400 IM final. Edward Huang from California Dolphins posted the top time in the 100 fly (47.21). PJ Foy of Glacier Swim Club is seeded just behind with 47.23. Eli Hobson of Pike’s Peak (53.79) and Rose Bowl’s Daniel Li (53.93) both posted sub-54s in the breast this morning, while Ben Bricca of Seattle Metropolitan was the lone sub-47 in backstroke heats.

Fox Valley Park District’s Leah Hayes is top seed in the 400 IM by 6.6 seconds with 4:07.68. She’ll be in lane 4 of the 200 free (1:46.81), after Patriot Aquatic Club’s Annika Parkhe scratched the event to focus on the 100 fly, where she also posted the morning’s top time (52.34). Crow Canyon’s Raya Mellott was the lone sub-1:00 in heats of the 100 breast; she went 59.94 in prelims. Elmbrook Swim Club’s will be the one to beat in the 100 back; she clocked a huge PB of 51.93 this morning.

Livestream courtesy USA Swimming

Girls’ 400 Yard Individual Medley – Finals

• West Record: 3:57.02, Katie Grimes (2022)
• Meet Record: 3:57.02, Katie Grimes (2022)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 4:06.95, Kayla Han (2022)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 3:57.02, Katie Grimes (2022)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 3:56.59, Bella Sims (2022)

Podium:

1. Leah Hayes, Fox Valley Park – 4:03.82P
2. Camden Doane, King Aquatic Club – 4:10.16
3. Carli Cronk, Alamo Area Aquatics – 4:12.95
4. Emma Sayers, Scottsdale Aquatic Club – 4:14.81
5. Sydney Schoeck, Rockwood Swim Club – 4:16.75
6. Sophie Segerson, Bellevue Club Swim Team – 4:16.87
7. Avery Collins, Lakeside Aquatic – 4:18.39
8. Alexa McDevitt, Bellevue Club Swim Team – 4:21.81

Leah Hayes controlled the race from the start to finish. She outsplit the field by about 1 second per 50 for the most part, building her lead from a few tenths at the beginning to over 6 seconds by the end. Hayes split her 100s 55.1/1:01.0/1:10.4/57.1 for a final time of 4:03.82, just .77 off her lifetime best, and a pool record.

Camden Doane moved into 2nd place after the second 50 of the fly. She remained all alone behind Hayes throughout the rest of the race and finished with 4:10.16, improving on her entry time by 1.5 seconds.

Carli Cronk had built up a strong lead over the rest of the field through the backstroke, and was able to hang on to 3rd place despite being outsplit by 3 seconds on the breaststroke by Emma Sayers. She finished 3rd with 4:12.95, dropping 3 seconds from her previous PB.

Boys’ 400 Yard Individual Medley – Finals

• West Record: 3:39.83, Maximus Williamson (2022)
• Meet Record: 3:38.65, Carson Foster (2019)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 3:51.46, Thomas Heilman (2022)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 3:39.83, Maximus Williamson (2022)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 3:35.27, Carson Foster (2020)

Podium:

1. Cooper Lucas, Lakeside Aquatic – 3:42.63P
2. Campbell McKean, Bend Swim Club – 3:46.55
3. Luke Stibrich, Blue Tide Aquatics – 3:47.68
4. Jake McCoy, Cougar Aquatics – 3:50.52
5. Hudson Schuricht, Scottsdale Aquatic Club – 3:52.17
6. Devyn Caples, Crow Canyon Sharks – 3:52.22
7. Tony Laurito, South Shore Sail – 3:52.52
8. Collin Quickstad, Lakeside Aquatic – 3:52.54.53

Cooper Lucas took control of the race right away, establishing the pace from lane 3 early on. He split 50.1/57.0/1:03.2/52.2 to go 3:42.63 and lower the new pool record, set by Jake Eccleston in the C final with his winning 3:49.56.

Tony Laurito, who had clocked the fastest time in prelims, was in 2nd place from lane 4 through the backstroke, when Luke Stibrich moved past him on the first 50 of the breast. Campbell McKean surged into 2nd place on the second half of the breast, and remained firmly in that spot through to the finish.

McKean stopped the clock at 3:46.55, dropping 5.6 seconds from his entry time. Stibrich finished 3rd with 3:47.68, notching a PB by 1.1 seconds.

Girls’ 100 Yard Butterfly – Finals

• West Record: 51.73, Regan Smith (2016)
• Meet Record: 50.87, Claire Curzan (2019)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 50.64, Claire Curzan (2019)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 49.51, Claire Curzan (2021)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 49.24, Claire Curzan (2022)

Podium:

1. Annika Parkhe, Patriot Aquatic – 51.59 *West Meet*
2. Caroline Larsen, Foxjets Swim Team – 52.15
3. Teagan O’Dell, Mission Viejo – 52.16
4. Kelsey Zhang, Palo Alto Stanford – 52.18
5. Bailey Hartman, Crow Canyon Sharks – 52.60
6. Kamryn Meskill, Bend Swim Club – 53.05
7. Teia Salvino, Mission Viejo – 53.92
8. Alana Berlin, Schroeder YMCA – 54.21

Annika Parkhe and Teagan O’Dell flipped together at the 50 wall, tied with 24.11, but Parkhe came home .6 faster to get the win. She split 27.4 on the back half to notch a 51.59 for a new West Meet record.

Caroline Larsen, in 3rd place at the 50, split 27.9 on her second 50 to get her hand to the wall .01 ahead of O’Dell, 52.15 to 52.16.

Kelsey Zhang nearly made the podium, coming home in 27.7 to finish in 4th place with 52.18.

Boys’ 100 Yard Butterfly– Finals

• West Record: 45.46, Ryan Hoffer (2015)
• Meet Record: 44.67, Thomas Heilman (2022)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 45.81, Thomas Heilman (2021)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 44.67, Thomas Heilman (2022)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 44.75, Aiden Hayes (2022)

Podium:

1. Logan Noguchi, Rose Bowl Aquatics – 46.54P
2. PJ Foy, Glacier Swim Club – 46.77
3. August Vetsch, Swim Neptune – 46.84
4. Daniel Verdolaga, Evolution Racing – 47.01
5. Marre Gattnar, North Bay Aquatics – 47.08
6. Edward Huang, California Dolphins – 47.46
7. Marshall Odom, Hydro Elite – 47.82
8. Micah Davis, Aquajets Swim Team – 48.08

PJ Foy was first at the 50, turning in 21.49. August Vetch was .10 behind him, while Logan Noguchi trailed by another .10. Noguchi turned on the jets on the 3rd 25 and brought it home with a 24.8 on the back half. He touched out Foy by .23 to win the title and break the pool record with 46.54. He was a full second faster than his entry time.

Foy and Vetsch also broke 47 seconds; they were 2nd and 3rd with 46.77 and 46.84, respectively. Foy improved his PB by .9, while Vetsch was .4 faster than his previous best.

Daniel Verdolaga had the fastest back half in the final. He moved from 7th at the 50 to 4th at the 100 with a 24.6 coming home.

Girls’ 200 Yard Freestyle – Finals

• West Record: 1:40.78, Bella Sims (2022)
• Meet Record: 1:40.63, Summer McIntosh (2022)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 1:44.55, Missy Franklin (2010)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 1:42.03, Katie Ledecky (2013)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 1:40.31, Missy Franklin (2014)

Podium:

1. Leah Hayes, Fox Valley Park District Riptide – 1:44.47
2. Bailey Hartman, Crow Canyon Sharks – 1:45.22
3. Ella Cosgrove, Scottsdale Aquatic – 1:46.03
4. Marie Landreneau, City Of Lafayette– 1:46.32
5. Ella Antoniewski, Waukesha Express – 1:46.52
6. Ava De Anda, Riverside Aquatics – 1:47.49
7. Lanie Tietjen, Empire KC – 1:47.73
8. Alexa McDevitt, Bellevue Club – 1:51.38

Bailey Hartman got off to a fast start from lane 6. It was reminiscent of her 500 free final last night, when she dominated the field from the first 50. Hartman flipped at 24.5 on the first 50, followed by Marie Landreneau, who was about a tenth behind. Leah Hayes was in 3rd place with 24.89.

Hartman and Landreneau were both 51.3 at the 100, while Hayes trailed the leaders by about .3.

Hayes let it loose on the 3rd 50, going 26.6 to outpace the field by half a second. She moved into the lead at the 150, flipping .2 ahead of Hartman with 1:18.29.

Hayes was home in 26.2 to increase her lead to .8 over Hartman. She got the win with 1:44.47, a new pool record and a PB by 4.3 seconds.

Hartman was just off her lifetime best, placing 2nd wit 1:45.22.

Ella Cosgrove slipped past Landreneau on the 3rd 50 and held on to make the podium with her 3rd-place finish of 1:46.03.

Boys’ 200 Yard Freestyle – Finals

• West Record: 1:32.00, Maximus Williamson (2023)
• Meet Record: 1:32.00, Maximus Williamson (2023)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 1:34.68, Thomas Heilman (2021)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 1:32.46, Thomas Heilman (2023)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 1:32.00, Maximus Williamson (2023)

Podium:

1. Maximus Williamson, Lakeside Aquatic – 1:31.37 **Meet record, 17-18 NAG**
2. Cooper Lucas, Lakeside Aquatic – 1:35.64
3. Jones Lambert, Lubbock Swim Club – 1:35.97
4. Quin Seider, Ojai Heat Waves – 1:36.14
5. Nathan Kim, Rose Bowl Aquatics – 1:36.29
6. Eddie Jin, Blue Tide Aquatics – 1:37.17
7. Andrew Maksymowski, Novaquatics – 1:38.16
8. Henry Webb, Aquajets – 1:38.50

Was he sick? Was he just being strategic? After declaring a false start in the 400 IM this morning and then scratching the 100 back final tonight, Maximus Williamson had us all talking. As it turns out, he knew exactly what he was doing. The 17-year-old had a 1:31 in his bones, and he let it loose tonight.

Swimming in lane 8, having just barely qualified for the A final, Williamson shot off the block and immediately found the calm water, putting himself a body length ahead of the field at the 50. He turned in 21.37, almost a second ahead of his nearest competitor.

(That said, he had been 21.0 off the block on Wednesday night when he set the 17-18 NAG with 1:32.00. We were unimpressed.)

Williamson went 23.2 on his second 50, clocking in at 44.6 at the halfway mark. (Oh no, he’s .3 behind Wednesday’s pace. Yikes.)

With a 23.5 third 50, he was 1:08.1 at the 150. (Better, only about .2 off pace.)

But holy buckets. That fourth 50 was something else: 23.2, which brought him to the wall in 1:31.37. For a 17-year-old. That’s a time that would have placed 5th at NCAAs last year.

Meanwhile, there was an excellent race behind him, with teammate Cooper Lucas touching out Jones Lambert for 2nd place, 1:35.64 to 1:35.97. Lambert improved his time by half a second, while Lucas was within .1 of his lifetime best.

Girls’ 100 Yard Breaststroke – Finals

• West Record: 57.76, Lydia Jacoby (2022)
• Meet Record: 57.76, Lydia Jacoby (2022)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 1:00.02, Alexis Wenger (2015)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 58.19, Alex Walsh (2018)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 57.29, Lydia Jacoby (2023)

Podium:

1. Piper Enge, Bellevue Club Swim Team – 59.51P
2. Raya Mellott, Crow Canyon Sharks – 59.53
3. Caroline Larsen, Foxjets Swim Team – 1:00.07
4. Bella Brito, Beach Cities Swimming – 1:00.35
5. Teagan O’Dell, Mission Viejo Nadadores – 1:00.68
6. Hayley Gregory, Crow Canyon Sharks – 1:01.16
7. Hannah Marinovich, Clovis Swim Club – 1:01.35
8. Kayla Duran, Chicago Wolfpack – 1:01.72

Raya Mellott got out to the early lead, turning first at the 50 in 27.80. That’s .4 faster than her pace this morning, when she was also the fastest on the front half of the race.

Piper Enge trailed by just .05, though, still within striking distance.

Enge and Mellott turned together at the 75 wall and came home together. With her eyes locked on the bottom of the pool, as is her style, Enge focused on the finish and got her hands to the wall .02 ahead of Mellott. Enge lowered the pool record with 59.51, coming within half a second of her PB. Mellott improved her lifetime best by .04 to notch a 59.53.

Caroline Larsen and Bella Brito were locked into 3rd and 4th throughout, with Larsen making the podium with 1:00.07, a PB by .2.

Boys’ 100 Yard Breaststroke – Finals

• West Record: 52.21, Michael Andrew (2015)
• Meet Record: 52.21, Michael Andrew (2015)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 53.06, Reece Whitley (2014)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 51.75, Michael Andrew (2015)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 51.16, Reece Whitley (2018)

Podium:

1. Jake Eccleston, Fort Collins Area – 52.74P
2. Daniel Li, Rose Bowl Aquatics – 53.24
3. Abram Mueller, Badger Aquatics – 53.30
4. Colin Zhang, RISE Aquatic Club – 53.57
5. Campbell McKean, Bend Swim Club – 53.87
6. Eli Hobson, Pikes Peak Athletic – 53.89
7. Hudson Schuricht, Scottsdale Aquatic Club – 54.24
8. Nik Keuser, Millard Aquatic – 54.47

Jake Eccleston took down the pool record with a come-from-behind victory in the 100 breast final. In 3rd place at the halfway point with 25.23, he passed Daniel Li and Abram Mueller en route to notching a 52.74, his best-ever time by .8.

Li had a slight advantage at the 50, turning in 25.09 to Mueller’s 25.14 and Eccleston’s 25.3, he came home in 28.1 to secure 2nd place.

Girls’ 100 Yard Backstroke – Finals

• West Record: 50.53, Bella Sims (2022)
• Meet Record: 50.53, Bella Sims (2022)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 50.44, Charlotte Crush (2023)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 49.53, Charlotte Crush (2023)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 49.46, Claire Curzan (2023)

Podium:

1. Maggie Wanezek, Elmbrook Swim Club – 51.20P
2. Teagan O’Dell, Mission Viejo Nadadores – 51.84
3. Grace Rabb, Aquajets Swim Team – 52.09
4. Charlotte Wilson, Univ of Denver Hilltoppers – 52.22
5. Tierney Lenahan, NASA Wildcat Aquatics – 52.82
6. Madison O’Connell, Crow Canyon Sharks – 53.58
7. Teia Salvino, Mission Viejo Nadadores – 53.69
8. Alana Berlin, Schroeder YMCA – 53.89

Maggie Waezek led from start to finish, with the fastest front half and the fastest back half, to win by half a body length with a pool-record time of 51.20.

Teagan O’Dell moved from 3rd place to 2nd over the back half, clocking in at 51.84 to pass Grace Rabb. Rabb held off Charlotte Wilson to earn the 3rd spot on the podium with 52.09.

Boys’ 100 Yard Backstroke – Finals

• West Record: 45.58, Ryan Hoffer (2015)
• Meet Record: 45.01, Will Modglin (2022)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 47.44, Daniel Diehl (2020)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 45.60, Anthony Grimm (2019)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 44.63, Ryan Murphy (2014)

Podium:

1. Ben Bricca, Seattle Metropolitan – 46.75P
2. Marre Gattnar, North Bay Aquatics – 46.95
3. Luke Logue, Aquajets – 47.28
4. Edward Huang, California Dolphins – 47.47
5. Ray Liu, Rose Bowl Aquatics – 47.66
6. Szymon Mieczkowski, FMC Aquatic – 47.67
7. Nathan Kim, Rose Bowl Aquatics – 47.88
8. Logan Noguchi, Rose Bowl Aquatics – 48.26

We finished the evening with another come-from-behind win, this time courtesy of Ben Bricca. In 3rd place at the 50 wall behind Edward Huang and Luke Logue, he came home in 24.0, outsplitting them by .6 and .8, respectively. Bricca stopped the clock at 46.74, lowering the pool record and taking 1.3 seconds off his PB.

Marre Gattner also slipped past Logue and Huang on the second 50; he finished 2nd with 46.95 for an improvement of .6 over his seed time.

Girls’ 200 Yard Freestyle Relay – Timed Finals

• West Record: 1:29.35, Mission Viejo Nadadores (T Salvino, J Kozan, G Aquino, T O’Dell) 2022
• Meet Record: 1:29.04, Chelsea Piers Aquatic Club (B Semenuk, S Moore, M Parker, K Douglass) 2018

Podium:

1. Mission Viejo Nadadores ‘A’ (Salvino, Aquino, Stinson, O’Dell) – 1:29.37P
2. Bellevue Club Swim Team ‘A’ (Sunwoo, Watson, Clarke, Enge) – 1:31.78
3. Crow Canyon Sharks ‘A’ (Clark, O’Connell, Suppiger, Hartman) – 1:31.88
4. NASA Wildcat Aquatics ‘A’ (Lenahan, Shimkus, Koenig–Song, O’Donnell) – 1:32.20
5. Orinda Aquatics ‘A’ (Canoles, Stevenson, Barck, Smith) – 1:32.33
6. Seattle Metropolitan ‘A’ (Jablonski, Yovanovich, Andrews, Weiler) – 1:32.53
7. Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics ‘A’ (O Detter, E Detter, Chung, Zhang) – 1:32.62
8. Bellevue Club Swim Team ‘B’ (White, Cui, Kehoe, McDevitt) – 1:33.09

Teia Salvino (22.59), Gracyn Aquino (22.28), Chloe Stinson (22.55), and Teagan O’Dell (21.95) combined to give Mission Viejo the title and the pool record with 1:29.37. The Nadadores led from start to finish, with half a body length lead at the 100 and double that margin at the finish.

Bellevue Club and Crow Canyon traded leads in the 2nd-place position but BCST (22.94, 22.97, 23.16, 22.71) sealed the victory on the 3rd leg. They then held on to fend off a 4th-leg charge from Bailey Hartman to beat CROW by .10.

Boys’ 200 Yard Freestyle Relay – Timed Finals

• West Record: 1:19.03, Bolles School Sharks (C Dressel, S Condorelli, E Goossen, J Schooling) 2012
• Meet Record: 1:19.03 Bolles School Sharks (C Dressel, S Condorelli, E Goossen, J Schooling) 2012

Podium:

1. Lakeside Aquatic ‘A’ (Williamson, Paulk, Lucas, Hernandez) – 1:19.35P
2. FMC Aquatic ‘A’ (Johnson, Mazurek, Bertulis, Hou) – 1:21.08
3. Rose Bowl Aquatics ‘A’ (Li, Brown, Noguchi, Kim) – 1:21.20
4. Aquajets Swim Team ‘A’ (Hogan, Webb, Logue, Davis) – 1:21.54
5. Irvine Novaquatics ‘A’ (Elliott, Hitchens, Santos, Chen) – 1:22.17
6. Seattle Metropolitan Aquatic Club ‘A’ (Skarda, Bricca, Carr, Audette) – 1:22.41
7. Scottsdale Aquatic Club ‘A’ (Falls, Esterly, Flynn, Reniewicki) – 1:22.51
8. Evolution Racing ‘A’ (Mundl, Verdolaga, McKee, Jiang) – 1:22.81

We finished the meet with another pool record as Maximus Williamson (19.46), River Paulk (19.79), Cooper Lucas (19.85), and Jack Hernandez (20.25) combined for 1:19.35.

FMC Aquatic finished in second place, well over a body length back, with splits of 20.3, 20.0, 20.4, and 20.3 from Brady Johnson, Dominic Mazurek, Nojus Bertulis, and Jeffrey Hou.

Rose Bowl came back from 6th place at the halfway point to 3rd at the finish, thanks in part to splits of 19.7 and 20.1 from Logan Noguchi and Nathan Kim on the 3rd and 4th legs.

Top 20 Girls’ Team Scores Through Day 3

1. Crow Canyon Sharks 303
2. Bellevue Club Swim Team 293
3. Mission Viejo Nadadores 249
4. Lakeside Aquatic Club 121
5. Irvine Novaquatics 114
6. Scottsdale Aquatic Club 113
7. Nasa Wildcat Aquatics 108
8. Aquajets Swim Team 91
9. Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics 89
10. Seattle Metropolitan Aquatic 76
11. Orinda Aquatics 73
12. Fox Valley Park District Riptide 60
13. Foxjets Swim Team 53
14. The Woodlands Swim Team 46
15. Elmbrook Swim Club 44
16. Waukesha Express Swim Team / Beach Cities Swimming 43
17. —
18. Riverside Aquatics Association 41
19. Rose Bowl Aquatics 40
20. Nitro Swimming 34

Top 20 Boys’ Team Scores Through Day 3

1. Lakeside Aquatic Club 392
2. Rose Bowl Aquatics 275
3. Fmc Aquatic 206
4. Aquajets Swim Team 178
5. Scottsdale Aquatic Club 135
6. Seattle Metropolitan Aquatic 98
7. Irvine Novaquatics 97
8. Swim Neptune 86
9. Evolution Racing Club 67
10. Bend Swim Club 65
11. Iowa Flyers Swim Club 60
12. North Bay Aquatics 51
13. Blue Tide Aquatics 45
14. Parkway Swim Club 36
15. Fort Collins Area Swim Team 35
16. Glacier Swim Club 34
17. Lubbock Swim Club / Sierra Marlins Swim Team 33
18. —
19. California Dolphin Swim Team / Dart Swimming 30