Real-time recaps: Day 2, 2013 Winter Junior Nationals

After a highly-eventful first day, Winter Juniors continues this morning in Greensboro. Friday’s events are the 400 medley relay, 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast and 100 back, with the 800 free relay added in at finals.

We’ll be updating the races as they happen right here.

Live results are available here.

Live streaming is available here.

Day 1 recap here.

Girls’ 200 Yard Medley Relay – Prelims

The top five teams in prelims of this girls’ 200 yard medley relay were all under 1:42, led by the SwimMAC Carolina “B” relay. Though one was labeled “A” and one was labeled “B,” the SwimMAC depth is so great that their relays really come down to who swims well and who doesn’t. For example, their “B” relay had a faster backstroker (Heather Merritt – 25.74) and butterflier (Alyssa Marsh – 24.12), but the “A” relay, that was 3rd in prelims in 1:41.84, had a faster breaststroker (Maija Roses – 28.45) and freestyler (Lauren Rhodes – 22.84).

In between those two relays was PASA’s A-relay that includes Stanford commit Ally Howe, who was a 24.66 on the leadoff leg – easily the fastest leadoff of the field.

Other noteworthy splits include a 23.4 from the Academy Bullets’ Mimi Schneider on the fly leg, and a 21.93 freestyle anchor from Canyons Aquatic Club’s Abbey Weitzeil; they swam on the 4th-and-5th-seeded relays, respectively.

Boys’ 200 Yard medley Relay – Prelims

There will be two great races in the final of the boys’ 200 yard free relay. PASA’s top-seeded relay swam a 1:29.97, and Bolles’ second-seeded relay swam a 1:29.98, so the overall team battle should be a good one.

Within that race, though, is the fight between the butterfliers. The Stanford-bound Liang from PASA split a 20.94 on the fly leg of his relay, and the Florida-bound Dressel from Bolles split a 20.70 on his relay.

Both teams will look for a push going into that leg. Bolles, leading off with Josh Booth, should have an edge on the backstroke leg, but Stanford will get that advantage right back on the breaststroke leg, where they have Curtis Ogren, who was a 24.81 in prelims.

The Scottsdale Aquatic Club took 3rd in 1:31.60, and TIDE of Virginia was 4th in 1:31.67. Austin Temple split a 24.94 on their breaststroke leg.

Other notable splits include a 19.96 anchor from 15-year old Thomas Anderson on KING’s 8th-place relay, and a 19.8 from Nick Magana on Scottsdale’s relay.

Girls’ 400 Yard IM – Prelims

Ella Eastin is in the hunt for an IM sweep in Greensboro. She’s already got the 200 out of the way, and after coming into the 400 IM as the top seed, she comes out of prelims in the same position with a 4:13.48.

She has a big advantage over her stiffest competition, Megan Kingsley from the Mount Pleasant Swim Club, on the breaststroke leg, but will have to maintain contact in the first 200 yards where Kingsley (4:15.09) is so good. If Eastin can be within three seconds of Kingsley at the halfway turn, she should be confident about her chances to win.

Also in the mix will be Hannah Moore, the 3rd seed in prelims with a 4:15.55, and 15-year old Y Spartaquatics swimmer Savanna Faulconer, who was a 4:15.86 in prelims. That’s her lifetime best by almost four seconds, which is a tall order to repeat in finals.

Katherine Drabot (4:16.21), Nicole Emery (4:17.17), Haley Rowley (4:17.75), and Madeline Myers (4:17.91) will all be in the A-Final tonight.

Also of note, Dynamo’s Kylie Stewart, the only swimmer seeded faster than Eastin coming in, scratched out of prelims: likely a wise decision, as she was entered in three individual events and at least one (but more likely two) relays.

Boys’ 400 Yard IM – Prelims

A bit of a break in the action, it seemed as though a lot of top swimmers were biding their energy in prelims of this boys’ 400 IM. Sam McHugh from the Baylor Swim Club took the top seed in 3:49.83, followed by future Stanford teammates Brock Turner (3:50.74) and Curtis Ogren (3:51.90).

Ogren is a real danger in finals; we saw him ‘play the game’ of multiple swims very well on Thursday, and he’s been 3:44.

Also a danger will by Dynamo Swim Club’s Gunnar Bentz, who was 7th in prelims in 3:53.64, but is clearly capable of a much better time. There’s three Dynamo swimmers in the A-Final: Jay Litherland is the 4th seed in 3:52.23, Kevin Litherland is the 6th seed in 3:53.48, in addition to Bentz.

Also final’ing is Jonathan Roberts of the North Texas Nadadores in 3:52.28, and Brian Poon of Phoenix Swimming is 8th in 3:53.77.

Girls’ 100 Yard Fly – Prelims

The preliminary rounds of the girls’ 100 yard fly set up a very competitive final, which this event always seems to bring. The top 5 finishers from the morning heat are separated by just .22 seconds. That’s a tighter spread than we’ve seen in any race so far in Greensboro, and probably tighter than we will see, and with the always-temperamental butterfly finish, anything could happen.

Minnesota-bound Danielle Nack of the Mantas Swim Club took the top seed in 53.47; she used a big first 50 to earn that honor (she was 24.4 – nobody else was under 25), and so will have to play chicken again in finals.

SwimAtlanta’s Kaitlin Grover, headed to UCLA, is the 2nd seed in 53.49, and SwimMAC Carolina’s Elsa Welshofer is 3rd in 53.55

Lindsey Engel is the 4th seed in 53.65, and is followed by another SwimMAC representative, Caitlin Casazza in 53.66.

Mount Pleasant Swim Club’s Megan Kingsley, who is heading to Georgia next fall, rounds out that tight grouping at the front of the pack with her 53.69.

A little ways back, but even then not too far, is Miranda Tucker from Livonia, Michigan and Madison Wright from Kingfish Aquatics in 53.9’s.

The B-Final has the same tight grouping (there’s less than a second spread among the top 18), but keep an eye on Jessica Snover of Y-Spartaquatics. At 14, she is the 10th seed out of prelims in 54.23, and isn’t too far from her best time.

Boys’ 100 Yard Fly – Prelims

The same battle we set up earlier is back-in-play in the individual 100 fly, though this time there will be some party-crashers. Caeleb Dressel took the top seed in the 100 yard fly in 47.51 after running away with his heat (on a cruise-of-a-finish), and Andrew Liang sits 2nd in 48.21.

Both swimmers will likely be faster in finals, but Dressel’s splits are really intimidating. He was out in 21.44 before shutting down to 47.51. He didn’t need to expend much to get safely into this final, so expect maybe a 45, if not faster, on Friday night.

Not far behind them, though, is Kyle Gornay of the Redlands Swim Team in a 48.33; he should be under 47, at least, in finals. The 4th seed goes to one of the youngest entries in the field, Michael Andrew, in 48.40. That broke his own National Age Group Record by about three tenths (read more about that record here).

Ryan Dudzinski is the 5th seed in 48.53, and the final will finish with Ryan Hoffer (48.57), Paul Powers (48.60), and Javier Barrena (48.62).

Girls 200 Yard Free – Prelims

Paige Madden is the top seed in the 200 free by just .03 after going 1:46.59 – that’s almost a two second drop from her seed time, and she moved up from 27th to take the pole position for tonight’s final. Just behind her is Claire Adams of Carmel Swim Club in 1:46.62, and just one tenth back from that sits Ozaukee Aquatics’ Katherine Drabot. The field looks like it’s going to be very tight for tonight’s final, with three more girls sneaking under 1:47 – Erin Falconer, Eryn Eddy and Nora McCullagh. That means the top 6 are all separated by just four tenths of a second.

Cecilia Williams and Megan Raab round out the top 8. Top seed Kylie Stewart suprisingly missed the A final, tying for 9th place with Jordan Stout. Stewart scratched her first race, presumably to stay fresher for her other two events, but after gaining over two seconds in this 200 free, there might be more to that story.

Boys 200 Yard Free – Prelims

Dylan Carter was an outstanding 1:34.47 to take the top seed in the boys 200 free. The future USC Trojan is the top seed by 3 seconds, thanks to Caeleb Dressel and Gunnar Bentz both scratching this race. Second seed is Tristan Sanders, who went 1:37.81. The entire rest of the A final went 1:38s: Blake Pieroni (1:38.11), Josh Booth (1:38.21), Josh Romany (1:38.41), Tabahn Afrik (1:38.42), Jake Markham (1:38.46) and Philip Perdue (1:38.56). That should set up a big time race for second in the final tonight.

In addition, the top 5 swimmers in the B final will come in with sub-1:39 times, showing off the crazy depth of this event.

Girls 100 Yard Breaststroke – Prelims

Lindsey Horejsi out of Atlantis Swimming of Minnesota went 59.75 to break Megan Quann’s NAG record at the 15-16 age class. That’s a big-time breakout swim for a girl who seems to have been putting up breakout swims all over the place the past two years. She’s the top seed for tonight, followed by fellow 16-year-old Lillia King in 1:00.27. Kennedy Lohman, a 15-year-old from Lakeside is third and Heidi Poppe is the fourth seed in 1:00.88.

Vivian Tafuto (1:01.31) and Miranda Tucker (1:01.72), both 16, follow them, and Olivia Ontjes and Sam Senczyszyn round out the top 8.

Boys 100 Yard Breaststroke – Prelims

Austin Temple from Virginia Tide took over the top spot from number-one seed Curtis Ogren. Temple went 54.81 and Ogren 54.96, but watch out for Ogren at finals – he had some major drops from morning to evening yesterday. That sets up a showdown between Temple, who has committed to Texas, and Ogren, a future Stanford swimmer, in the A final.

Zack Warner sits third in 55.17 and Jordy Groters, a future Mizzou Tiger, is fourth with a 55.33.

The rest of the A final will include Ian Finnerty, Alexander Morgan, Christian Lorenz and Joseph Kmak, all of whom were 55s at prelims.

Girls 100 Yard Backstroke – Prelims

Michigan-bound Clara Smiddy is the top seed after prelims – she went 52.60 to easily lead the field. Ally Howe out of PASA sits second, a half-second back in 53.18, and Taylor Garcia is third in 53.21.

Worth keeping an eye on: Kylie Stewart did make the final in this race after scratching the 400 IM and missing the final of the 200 free. She’s got a busy schedule for the day and has had an up-and-down morning. Stewart was about a second off her seed in prelims (53.38), but she’s got the speed to give this field a run at finals, so keep an eye on lane 6 tonight.

Claire Adams is the 5-seed, with a prelims time of 53.43. Last night’s 200 IM champ Emily Eastin is in the A field, and Hannah Leach and Emma Schanz will join her there tonight. All of the top 9 swimmers got under 54 seconds this morning.