Junior National Championships: Gillian Ryan, Connor Black Set Meet Records on Night Three

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, August 15. NORTH Baltimore Aquatic Club's Gillian Ryan broke the meet record in the women's 400m free and earned her second win of the meet, while Connor Black of the Cats Aquatic Team lowered the meet record in the men's 100m fly for the second time today during the third night of racing in Indy.

Ryan kicked off night three of competition in record-breaking style, crushing the meet record in the women's 400m free. Ryan swam a 4:07.26 to knock Lauren Driscoll's 4:10.37 from the record books, adding to her win in the 800m free two nights ago. She also lowered her personal best from Trials, which placed fourth, by .01 with that performance. Taylor Katz of the Sarasota YMCA Sharks finished a distant second in 4:15.05. Allison Brown of the Pleasanton Seahawks officially took third in 4:17.72, though the third fastest time overall came from Cierra Runge of North Baltimore, who won the C final in 4:15.12.

The men's 400m free came down to the final length, as Mission Viejo's Janardana Burns and Dayton Raiders' Brock Turner exchanged leads throughout the swim. Turner maintained the lead through the first 200m before Burns took over. The two swimmers remained within half a second of one another for the rest of the race, before Burns hit the wall first in 3:56.54. Turner claimed second in 3:56.93. James Yoder of the Stingrays rounded out the top three in 3:58.52.

Tualatin Hills' Michelle Cefal, who already won the 200m fly on night one, added the 100m fly title to her collection, breaking the 1-minute mark for the first time ever to win in 59.31. Cefal entered the meet with a time of 1:00.76 and just missed breaking one minute in prelims with a 1:00.03, but was finally able to crack the barrier tonight. Mission Viejo's Kathryn McLaughlin also broke 1:00 for the first time, posting a 59.81 to take second. Dana Grindall of SoNoCo Swim Club rounded out the top three finishers in 1:00.77.

In the men's 100m fly, Connor Black of the Cats Aquatic Team lowered his meet record from this morning even further, from 53.21 to 53.16, for the victory. Black finished 42nd in the event at Trials, but his time here would've qualified for the semifinals in Omaha. Justin Lynch of the Terrapins Swim Team also broke 54 with a 53.91 for second. Aaron Whitaker of Duneland Swim Club finished right behind in 54.08 to take third.

In the final event of the evening, SwimMAC Carolina's quartet of John Manchester, Lane Bretschneider, Peter Brumm and Matthew Josa cruised to victory in the men's 800m free relay, stopping the clock in 7:36.17. Tualatin Hills (7:38.55) and King Aquatic Club (7:38.80) also finished on the podium.

SwimMAC Carolina, not in the top three teams after last night, now leads the team standings with 181 points, 15 ahead of the Pleasanton Seahawks (166 points). Mission Viejo sits in third with 153 points.

Be sure to check out all of Peter Bick's photos in the Junior Nationals Photo Gallery, like the one below:

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