World Championship Team Members, Ryan Murphy, and Other Young Stars Compete at Sectionals in Athens, GA

This past weekend, we saw several big names in the 2013 Long Course Senior Sectionals at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA. World Championship team members Nic Fink, Jordan Mattern, and Shannon Vreeland swam at the meet along with other rising stars such as Ryan Murphy.

Day 1 – 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 200 butterfly.

In the women’s 200 IM, Danielle Jansen won with a time of 2:18.64, Katie Christy was second with a time of 2:19.87. On the men’s side, Ryan Murphy was first with a 2:01.23 and Ty Stewart finished second in 2:03.28. Five of the eight finalists were 18 or younger. Kasey Schmidt, 16, won the women’s 50 free in 26.27 by one one-hundreth of a second. Sammie Bosma finished second in 26.28. Karl Krug touched the wall first in the men’s 50 free with a time of 22.67. Caryle Blondell was second in 22.97. Lauren Harrington won the women’s 200 butterfly in 2:11.96 and Megan Kingsley was second with her time of 2:12.33. Jimmy Yoder won the men’s 200 fly in 2:01.39. Mick Litherland was second with his 2:01.65. Seven of the eight finalists were 18 or younger.

Day 2 – 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 400 IM, 4×100 freestyle relay.

Kristen Wilson started the night of with a win in the women’s 200 freestyle with her time of 2:03.05. Wilson finished .01 ahead of Rebecca Postoll, who was 2:03.06 for second. Matias Koski touched first to win the men’s 200 freestyle with his time of 1:50.01. Zane Grothe was second in 1:51.48. Sydney Sell won the women’s 100 backstroke with her time of 1:02.91. Sarah Reynolds was second in 1:03.74. Five of the eight finalists were 18 or younger. Ryan Murphy and Ty Stewart finished first and second for the second day in a row in the 100 backstroke. Murphy’s time from the World Championship Trials was the sixth fastest time in the world. On friday, his time of 53.57 won the event and was also the ninth fastest time in the world this year. Stewart went 56.21. Cari Blalock won the 400 IM with her time of 4:45.44. Blalock was almost eight seconds of Tanja Kyllianen who finished second in 4:53.14. Kevin Litherland won the men’s 400 IM with his time of 4:27.75. His brother, Mick Litherland, was second in 4:31.03. The Litherland’s are triplets and all competitive swimmers. Their brother, Jay Litherland, had eight top 8 finishes throughout the meet. The Litherland triplets had 22 top 8 finishes combined. The relay of Lauren Harrington, Jessica Graber, Abbie Fish, and Annie Williamson from Athens Bulldog Swim Club won the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay in 3:50.87. On the men’s side, the relay of Gunnar Bentz, Knox Auerbach, Sam Lewis, and Matias Koski from Dynamo Swim Club won the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay in 3:27.12.

Day 3 – 400 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 100 breaststroke, 4×200 freestyle relay.

Stephanie Peters won the women’s 400 free in 4:16.32. Victoria Mitchell was second at 4:20.60. Six of the eight finalists were 18 or younger. Matias Koski and Zane Grothe were first and second again in the 400 freestyle after finishing the same way the day before in the 200 freestyle. Koski was 3:51.68 and Grothe was 3:53.46. In the women’s 100 butterfly, Christina Bechtel touched first at 59.48 to win the event. Lauren Harrington was second at 59.77. Ryan Murphy won his third event of the meet with a 53.52 in the men’s 100 butterfly. Neil O’Halloran was second at 54.05. Olivia Boggs won the 100 breaststroke in 1:11.39 and Shannon O’Malley was second at 1:11.71. Nic Fink, a member of the 2013 World Championship Team, won the men’s 100 breaststroke in 1:02.18. Carlos Almeida was second in 1:02.25. The relay of Shannon Vreeland, Jordan Mattern, Jessica Garber, and Abbie Fish of the Athens Bulldog Swim Club finished first with a time of 8:18.55. Both Vreeland and Mattern are on the 2013 World Championship Team. On the men’s side, the relay of Josh Booth, Caio Batista, Teo D’Alessandro, and Ryan Murphy of Bolles School Sharks won with a time of 7:39.34.

Day 4 – 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 backstroke.

Rebecca Postoll won the women’s 100 freestyle in 57.01, Kristen Wilson was second with her time of 57.18.Six of the eight finalists were 18 or younger. Karl Krug and Caryle Blondell finished first and second again, just as they had done in the 50 freestyle. Krug was 50.00 and Blondell was 50.32. In the women’s 200 breaststroke, 14 year-old Brooke Forde won with her time of 2:35.27. Cari Blalock was second in 2:36.51. Six of the eight finalists were 18 or younger. Carlos Almeida won the men’s 200 breaststroke in 2:15.80 and Andrew Braun finished second with his time of 2:18.23. Sydney Sell won her second event of the meet with her time of 2:14.94 in the 200 backstroke. Melissa Postoll was second in 2:15.99. Six of the eight finalists were 18 or younger. Ryan Murphy won his fourth individual event of the meet with his time of 1:57.21 in the men’s 200 backstroke. Jay Litherland was second in 2:03.40. Six of the eight finalists were under the age of 18.