Y Nats: Four More Meet Records on Night Three

Women’s 200 free relay

After narrowly missing the meet record this morning, York County YMCA got a great anchor leg from 14-year-old Meghan Small (her split of 22.32 was the fastest in the field by over a half-second) and broke away from the field for the win in 1:32.05.  York County is now three-for-three in the women’s relays at this meet, setting meet records across the board.  Here, they smashed the old record of 1:33.26, set in 2006 by the YMCA of the Triangle Area.

Middle Tyger YMCA was neck and neck with York through three legs, but ultimately had to settle for 2nd in 1:32.90 (also under the old meet record).  Sunbury Branch YMCA was 3rd in 1:33.27

Men’s 200 free relay

Colin Ellington dropped the fastest leadoff leg in the heat, propelling YMCA of the Triangle Area (YoTA) to the win in 1:22.68.  After setting the 15-16 NAG record this morning, YoTA replaced Noah Franz (21.11) and Chris Kohut (21.10) with Ben Mayes (20.65) and Bailey Maloney (20.76), and had a great second leg from Seth Maslowski, as well (20.79).  YoTA was challenged late by Somerset Valley YMCA (1:22.99, thanks to Brad Zdroik’s 20.04 anchor leg) and Ocean County YMCA (1:23.09).

Notably, Ryan Held, the 50 free individual champion from Wednesday night, split 19.86 for Springfield YMCA (Illinois) to push them into the 5th place position.

Women’s 100 yard breast

After settling for runner-up in the women’s 200 breast two nights ago, Bethany Leap of the Sarasota Sharks jumped out in front of the field during the opening 50 (her 29.09 was by far the fastest in the field), and held her ground to claim the top spot, touching in 1:01.71.  Future University of Kentucky Wildcat Kendra Crew of Springfield YMCA (Ohio) was 2nd in 1:02.26, and Abby Fisher, the 200 champion from Lakeland Hills (New Jersey), finished 2rd in 1:02.42.

Men’s 100 yard breast

Conner McHugh of Door County YMCA (Wisconsin) ran away with this one from the get-go, slicing off a full second from his previous best time to win with a time of 54.03.  That swim ranks him third nationally this season among high schoolers, and sets up the high school junior to receive some pretty big attention from college coaches this summer.  17-year-old Zack Warner of Somerset Valley (New Jersey) held off the hard-charging Eric Ronda (who won the 200 breast in a landslide on Wednesday night) for 2nd, touching in 55.05 (Ronda was 55.12).

Women’s 200 yard back

Teammates Meghan Small and Kacey Oberlander finished 1-2 in this event for York YMCA, each dipping under the old meet record in the process (a suit-aided 1:55.45 from Annie Gillig of Middle Tyger in 2009).  Small, who is just 14 years old, has been absolutely on fire this week; this is her fourth title so far in five opportunities, and her time of 1:54.76 is 2nd on the all time list for 13-14 girls (although she is well off the seemingly-ridiculous standard 1:51.07 set by Missy Franklin three years ago).  Oberlander had a great swim as well, dropping more than four seconds in total from her seed time to finish in 1:55.31.

Emily Slabe of Countryside YMCA (Ohio) was a distant 3rd (1:58.27).

Men’s 200 yard back

Sarasota’s Alexander Katz captured his second individual title of the meet, taking control of the race early and coming home well to touch in 1:45.49.  Dylan Sali, who leg off Somerset Valley’s record-setting 200 medley relay two nights ago, dropped almost three full seconds from his seed time to finish 2nd in 1:46.18.  17-year-old Andrew Appleby of Cuyahoga (Ohio) was 3rd in 1:47.55.

Women’s 500 yard free

Danielle Valley of Sarasota continued to exert her dominance over the field in the distance events, winning her third title of the meet with a time of 4:42.36.  Valley, who will be competing for Gregg Troy at the University of Florida this fall, really pushed the pace early, splitting 1:49.69 (53.27-56.42) over the first 200.  Although she looked like she was setting herself up to crack the 4:40 barrier for the first time, Valley ultimately faded over the last three 100’s (57.36-57.91-57.40).

The 13-year-old Courtney Harnish of York YMCA finished well behind Valley for 2nd (4:45.15), but that time is easily the fastest among 13-year-olds this season, and is top 15 all time for the 13-14 age group.  Casey Jernberg of Schroeder YMCA (Wisconsin) was third in 4:48.31.

Men’s 500 yard free

Brandon Flynn of York YMCA captured his second individual event, touching first in a time of 4:26.60.  Much like Danielle Valley did in the women’s 500, Flynn established control over the heat during the first 200 yards, taking the race out in 1:43.14 to build a substantial lead over the first 200 yards.  In a tight battle for 2nd, Sava Turcanu of Hickory YMCA (North Carolina) out-touched Alexander Katz, 4:28.50 to 4:28.58.

Women’s 400 medley relay

Teammates Kasey Oberlander (54.88) and Niki Price (53.25) had the fastest backstroke and butterfly legs in the heat, as the York YMCA kept their momentum rolling, capturing their 4th women’s relay title of the meet and establishing yet another meet record.  They touched in 3:40.60, nearly three seconds under the old mark of 3:43.09.  Middle Tyger, who actually held the meet record prior to this event, was also under the old standard, finishing in 3:42.49.  Sarasota finished 3rd in 3:44.08.

Men’s 400 medley relay

The quartet of Dylan Sali, Zack Warner, David Chung, and Brad Zdroik from Somerset Valley YMCA followed up a brilliant performance in the 200 medley relay with an impressive, record-setting victory to close out night three.  Their time of 3:18.14 eclipsed the old mark of 3:18.89 from Schroeder YMCA (which had a Mitch Friedemann leadoff leg), and makes Somerset Valley the 6th-fastest club team in the nation this year.  Wilton YMCA (3:22.34) got a lightning-quick 54.40 breaststroke split from Eric Ronda to push them into 2nd, and Red Bank finished 3rd (3:24.02).