Sarasota, Led by Austin Katz, Breaks Y Nat 400 Medley Relay Record

2017 YMCA SHORT COURSE NATIONALS

• Monday April 3 – Friday, April 7, 2017
• Greensboro Aquatic Center
• Greensboro, NC
• Mon: 5:30PM Timed Finals / Tues: 8:45AM Prelims, 5:30PM Finals / Wed-Fri: 8:45 AM Prelims, 5:15PM Finals
• Meet site
• Results

Bath Area YMCA and Sarasota Family YMCA got off to strong starts tonight, with Bath taking the women’s 200 free relay and Sarasota the men’s.

Caitlin Tycz anchored Bath’s relay with a field-best 22.68, helping her team to the win there. Westport/Weston’s Sarah Grinalds led-off her 2nd place relay with a very strong 22.72. Tycz, who set the 100 fly Y-Nat record last year at 52.43 and will swim at USC in the fall, followed up her relay win with an individual victory in the 100 fly. She successfully defended her title, posting a 52.76 to finish ahead of 2nd place Megan Glass of Blue Ash (53.51).

Austin Katz had the fastest split on Sarasota’s 200 free relay (20.32) to lead them to victory there. Individually, he and Keanan Dols provided Sarasota with a 1-2 sweep in the men’s 200 back. It was a 1:41.74 for University of Texas-bound Katz, a shade off of his 1:41.48 meet record but still only his second time under 1:42 as he was able to defend his title. Dols, a Penn commit, finished up a ways back at 1:45.25, edging ahead of Wilton’s Jake Kealy (1:45.39).

Katz was also huge on their 400 medley relay at the end of the night– he led off in 47.40, as Sarasota won the event in 3:17.93. That time slid under the old Y-Nats record of 3:18.14, set in 2013 by Somerset Valley.

Comparative splits

Sarasota got the job done, and beat the Somerset Valley record by just 21-hundredths. Funnily enough, Somerset finished 2nd tonight in 3:19.87.

Though not defending a title, York’s Courtney Harnish went with the 200 back this year (which she doesn’t typically do on the 2nd day of Y Nats) for a win with a time of 1:54.40.

That marks a full second drop for the UGA commit, a great sign as she has had trouble scoring personal bests the last season or two. Finishing 2nd was Indiana commit Camryn Forbes from Butler with a huge time drop– she came into the meet with a 1:57.59 and touched at 1:54.83 tonight. Emma Sieberlich of Phoenixville, a Virginia commit, was right behind them at 1:54.96, also in a new personal best.

Maxwell McHugh of Door County was the third individual to repeat an individual win tonight from last year, taking the 200 breast (1:56.51) over Countryside’s Grant House (1:58.24) and Eau Claire’s Paul DeLakis (1:58.56). House (Arizona State) and DeLakis (Ohio State) are, like a bunch of the seniors at this meet, committed to strong Division 1 programs for next year.

Other highlights

• Brendan Burns won the men’s 100 fly with a time of 47.62. Burns, from Upper Main Line, is only 15 years old– this was his first time under 48 seconds. He is now tied with Ariel Spektor as the 14th-fastest 15-16 year old in U.S. history. Burns also went 48.44 leading off his team’s 5th place 400 medley relay
• Cheshire’s Brooke Perrotta, who’s UNC-bound, popped a 2:12.50 to take the women’s 200 breaststroke. She was also an essential leg of Cheshire’s victorious 400 medley relay, splitting a 1:01.40 breaststroke as her team parried Greater Spartanburg’s late charge (a 49.52 anchor from Gardner-Webb commit Jessi Snover), 3:43.18 to 3:43.20.

Scores

WOMEN

1. York 113
2. Boise 103
3. Greater Spartanburg 100
4. Cheshire 93
5. Fanwood Scotch Plains 78
6. Bath Area 74
7. Red Bank Branch 52
8. Lakeland Hills 51
9. Westport/Weston 49 *TIE*
10. Somerset Valley 49 *TIE*

MEN

1. Sarasota 172
2. Upper Main Line 101
3. Wilton 84
4. Birmingham 77
5. Somerset Hills 67
6. Countryside 66
7. Somerset Valley 61
8. Red Bank 60
9. Lakeland Hills 57
10. Boise 42