2023 CHRISTIANSBURG SPEEDO SECTIONALS
- March 23-26, 2023
- Christiansburg, Virginia
- Short Course Yards (25 yards)
- Psych Sheet
- Meet Central
- Meet Results on Meet Mobile
- Day 1 Recap
The North Carolina Aquatic Club pulled out to a big lead in the team standings and 16-year-old Kade Snyder of Arena Club Aquatics in Maryland had a breakthrough swim on day 2 of the 2023 Speedo Sectional Championships in Christiansburg, Virginia.
Snyder won the boys’ 100 fly in 48.36. That makes him the third-ranked 16-year-old in Maryland Swimming LSC history behind only the GOAT, Michael Phelps, who swam 47.15 in 2001 and Caiden Bowers, who swam 47.99 in December.
Top 5 Resident Swims, Boys’ 100 Yard Fly, 16-Year Olds, Maryland Swimming LSC
- Michael Phelps, 2001 – 47.15 (NBAC)
- Caiden Bowers, 2022 – 47.99 (Eagle Swim Team)
- Kade Snyder, 2023 – 48.36 (Arena Club Aquatic)
- Ryan Branon, 2020 – 48.46 (NBAC)
- Coleman Stewart, 2015 – 48.59 (NBAC)
- Cole Buese, 2013 – 49.38 (NBAC)
Snyder knocks off the NBAC stranglehold in these rankings, though the LSC’s most famous club still controls 6 of the top 10 slots in the ranking.
The other big story of the day was the performance of the North Carolina Aquatic Club and especially 18-year-old Eva Boehlke. She became the first double female winner of the meet on Friday, picking up victories in the 100 fly (54.17) and 400 IM (4:16.95).
That 100 fly time is a new personal best by three-tenths of a second. A high school senior, Boehlke is committed to UCSD next season – all the way across the country from her home in North Carolina – and that time makes her faster than any current UCSD swimmers went that season.
Her 400 IM, while not a personal best, is almost four seconds better than anybody on the UCSD roster swam this season and would have won the MPSF Conference Championship by more than two seconds.
Boehlke also swam on the winning 800 free relay for NCAC. Their time of 7:31.29 won the race by more than five seconds. Boehlke anchored in 1:55.33 and combined with Thursday’s mile winner Hayley Clark (1:50.48), Isabel Wolk (1:52.24), and Abby Emrich (1:53.24) for the win.
NCAC’s fourth win of the day came in the boys’ 800 free relay. That was another dominant performance, with their time of 6:48.46 winning by more than nine seconds. The winning team was Andy Commins (1:40.25), Lucas Li (1:40.67), Ian Platts-Mills (1:42.47), and Cooper Nicholson (1:45.07).
In total, NCAC had ten top-3 finishes on Friday.
Alex Ochsenbein of Kentucky Aquatics also became a double winner on Friday, winning an unusual combination of back-to-back events.
First, he won the boys’ 200 free in 1:38.39, beating our Racer X’s Zach Zornan Ferguson (1:39.32). Shortly thereafter, he won the 100 breaststroke in 54.47.
Ochsenbein, a senior, is committed to Missouri.
Team Standings After Day 2 – Men (Top 5)
- NCAC – 248
- Team Pittsburgh Elite Aquatics – 153
- Kentucky Aquatics – 122
- H2Oke Aquatics – 65
- Racer X Aquatics – 60
Team Standings After Day 2 – Women (Top 5)
- NCAC – 238
- Wilmington Aquatic Club – 102
- NCAP – 98.5
- Team Pittsburgh Elite Aquatics – 77
- 757 Swim – 71
Other Day 2 Winners and Notables:
- Rachel Bockrath of the Wilmington Aquatic Club won the girls’ 200 free in 1:47.57. That shaves .04 seconds off her best time. A high school junior, Bockrath is committed to Ohio State. She beat out a pair of 15-year-olds Anna Shnowske (1:48.33) and Isabel Wolk (1:48.92) in the race.
- Caroline Agee, a 15-year-old from NCAP, won the girls’ 100 breaststroke in 1:02.98. That cuts six-tenths of a second off her previous best time that won her the Virginia High School 4A title earlier this year. She had a big second-half of her race, running-down Loyola Blakefield’s Tess Lankford, who was .02 back in 1:03.00; and Monocacy’s Charlotte Headland, who was 3rd in 1:03.40.
- Matthew Purcell from Team Pittsburgh Aquatics won the boys’ 400 IM in 3:56.59, beating out Ian Platts-Mills from NCAC. The two swam very similar races, but the difference-maker was Purcell’s 58.88 split on backstroke (as compared to 1:00.47 for Platts-Mills). That was Platts-Mills’ second runner-up finish of the meet after finishing 2nd in the 1000 on Friday.
