Stanford Commit Connor Black Soars at Minneapolis Sectional

Connor Black of CATS Aquatics in Suburban Illinois had the swim-of-the-night Friday at the Minnesota Aquatic Center at the Central Zone stop of the Sectionals circuit. He stunned fans in the morning with a 52.87 in prelims of the men’s 100 fly, and then dropped their jaws once again with a 52.72 in finals.

That time ranks him 5th in the 17-18 age group all-time in American swimming, behind only a powerful lineup of Michael Phelps, Ian Crocker, Bobby Bollier, and Jack Conger. The first two of those went on to become Olympic champions, the first three were all National Champions, and Conger might have both in his future, though is still only a teenager.

Black is committed to swim for Stanford in the fall, and enters as the National High School Record holder in the 100 yard event. He will battle Gray Umbach for the spot on Stanford’s ‘A’ medley relay after they lost their top two fliers (Aaron Wayne and Jack Lane) from last year’s team.

Other winners from Friday in Minneapolis include:

• Notre Dame’s Kelly Ryan in the women’s 200 backstroke in 2:16.88. 14-year old Ashlyn Schoof was 2nd in 2:17.18.
• Tennessee’s Sean Lehane won the men’s 200 backstroke in 2:00.52.
• 15-year old Katherine Drabot won the women’s 400 free in 4:16.80.
• Incoming Wisconsin transfer Nicholas Caldwell had a good, but not great, swim in the 400 free of 3:59.27. That’s still not a bad result for a short time training at Wisconsin.
• Another Badger, Anna Meinholz, won the women’s 100 breaststroke in 1:10.42. Katharine Ross was 2nd in 1:10.48, and Haley Spencer took 3rd in 1:11.12.
• Minnesota’s Josh Hall won the men’s 100 breaststroke in 1:02.94. 21-year old Wisconsin sophomore Nick Schafer, an Australian native, took 2nd in 1:03.27.
• Gia D’Alesandro from the Fox Valley Swim Team in the Chicago suburbs won the women’s 100 fly in 1:00.23, beating a pair of Wisconsin Badgers Rebecka Palm (1:01.35) and Ivy Martin (1:01.41).