2014 NCSA Junior Nationals: Day 3 Full Recap

2014 NCSA Junior Nationals

Day Three Results: Here 

Championship Central: Here 

Day three of NCSA Junior National action saw just one NAG record fall, a surprising fact considering the last two days of swimming in Orlando, Florida.  

Simone Manuel took home the first title of the night in the girls 200 free, speeding to a career best time of 1:43.00.  The First Colony standout finished well ahead of Dynamo’s Kylie Stewart (2nd, 1:44.66) and Ozaukee’s Katherine Drabot (3rd 1:45.22).  Manuel’s time of 1:43.00 puts her in a three-way tie for 15th on the top-performance list, joining the likes of Sara Isakovic and Christine Magnuson.

The boys 200 free saw Townley Hasas pick up his third title of the meet, finishing first in 1:35.26.  Tristan Sanders took a runner-up position with a time of 1:36.32 and Liam Egan rounded out third at 1:36.79.  The 14 year old phenom Michael Andrew managed to take down the 13-14 NAG record in the B-final, finishing fourth in 1:38.31.  That will likely be Andrew’s last 13-14 record record before aging up, and he will lay claim to all but three records in that age group.  The 500 free, 1000 free, 1650 free and 200 breast are the only 13-14 NAG marks Andrew has yet to take down.

Samantha Senczyszyn of Ozaukee would prove victorious in the girls 50 breast with a time of 28.08, doubling up on her title earned in the 100 breast yesterday.  Olivia Anderson from the Aquajets took second in 28.19 followed by New Trier’s Ingrid Wall in third at 28.50.

Conner Hoppe of Clovis snagged the 50 breast title in 24.57 after finishing second in the 100 breast last night. Carsten Vissering, last night’s 100 breast champion, was runner-up with a time of 24.76.  Michael Andrew earned a third place finish in 24.96.

Katherine Drabot took home the girls 400 IM title in a time of 4:09.43, just after taking third in 200 free.  Kylie Stewart, second place finisher in the 200 free, took second in 4:10.22.  Sydney Lofquist finished third in 4:10.90.  All three girls mentioned above had career best’s in the event.

Gunnar Bentz just out-touched Baylor’s Robert McHugh in the boys 400 IM to take home the NCSA crown.  Bentz put down a time 3:45.53, besting McHugh’s 3:45.81.  The fight for third place was waged between Illinois swimmers Jae Park of Nasa Aquatics and Jake Miller from the Redbird Swim Club.  Park bested Miller, touching in 3:50.30. Miller would take fourth in 3:50.36.

A crowded field in the field in the girls 50 fly, packed with 400 swimmers, was dominated by Janet Hu of Nation’s Capital.  Hu touched first in 23.40, ahead of 15 year old runner-up Elizabeth Nelson (23.80). Mary Schneider of Academy rounded out third in 24.21.

Baylor’s Lucas Kaliszak managed to get to the wall just ahead of Michael Andrew in the boys 50 fly with a time of 21.30.  Andrew would touch second in 21.49, followed by Gunnar Bentz in third at 21.55.

The girls 400 freestyle relay would see a comeback performance by Nation’s Capital Swim Club to earn the NCSA title. At the final exchange, NCSC was trailing Aquaujets Swim Team 2:31.00 to 2:30.54, and was in fourth place.  A huge final split of 48.27 from Janet Hu was enough to catapult them into first place with a time of 3:19.27.  Aquajets snagged the runner-up position with a 3:20.06 followed by Ozaukee in third at 3:21.30.

Nation’s Capital also managed to win the boys 400 freestyle relay and their B relay took third.  The A relay crushed the field by almost three seconds, speeding to a time of 2:57.83.  Andrew Seliskar had a blistering leadoff time of 44.06.  Dynamo Swim club would take second in 3:00.54 with Nation’s Capital “B” not far behind in 3:00.93.