USA Swimming Grand Prix, Minnesota: Rachel Komisarz Shines During First Night

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, November 9. THE latest season of USA Swimming's Grand Prix began with a stop in Minneapolis on the campus of the University of Minnesota. Lakeside's Rachel Komisarz won the 200 free and 100 fly, while the latter moved her up a notch on the all-time performers list.

Women's 1000 freestyle
SMU's Flavia Rigamonti and Mission Viejo's Chloe Sutton went toe-to-toe through the first 800 yards with Rigamonti leading 7:39.05 to 7:40.29 at that point. Rigamonti, however, started stretching her lead the rest of the way with an 8:36.98 at the 900 before clocking a 9:33.98 to win the event. Sutton posted an 8:38.80 at the 900 before grabbing second in 9:36.43, 12 seconds better than her previous personal best.

Club Wolverine's Katie Carroll placed third in 9:42.19, while Mission Viejo's Sachiko Yamada (9:50.03) and Erin McCleave (9:52.41) swimming unattached took fourth and fifth, respectively. Meanwhile, USA Swimming's Open Water World Championships Trials 10k winner Micha Burden, of Mission Viejo, finished sixth in 10:03.18.

Men's 1000 freestyle
Mission Viejo's Chad La Tourette turned his attention back to pool swimming after battling at the Open Water World Championships Trials recently. This time, La Tourette came out on top with a winning time of 8:56.37. Gator Swim Club's Ricardo Monasterio placed a distance second in 9:06.38, while Mission Viejo's Charlie Rimkus, 16, earned third in 9:11.08.

Other top finishes came from Minnesota's Mike Holmes (9:12.49), Mission Viejo's Fran Crippen (9:13.44) and Balazs Gercsak (9:19.30).

Women's 100 breaststroke
Trojan Jessica Hardy, who is the fourth-fastest swimmer in the history of the event with a 59.20, nearly cleared the minute mark again with a winning performance of 1:00.13. Teammate Keri Hehn cleared the 1:01 barrier with a second-place time of 1:00.79, while Center Grove's Michelle McKeehan ripped off a 1:01.22 for third place.

Minnesota's Jillian Tyler (1:01.90) and Florida Atlantic's Elle Weberg (1:02.69) took fourth and fifth, with Eau Claire YMCA 12-year-old Leah Pronschinske finishing sixth in 1:04.75.

Men's 100 breaststroke
Mike Alexandrov, the holder of the American record in the event with a time of 51.56 at the 2007 NCAA Championships held in the same pool in March, snagged the event title with a time of 53.41. Meanwhile, hometown swimmer Colin Lee-To of Minnesota finished second in 54.52, while teammate Jon Roberts, a recent transfer from Auburn, closed out the top three in 55.02.

Other finalists included Boilermaker's Giordan Pogioli (55.09) and Scott Usher (55.11) as well as Lucas Dematteis (55.13) and Santa Clara's Matt Smith (55.47). Minnesota's Jason Timmer rounded out the final heat in 57.48.

Women's 200 freestyle
Lakeside's Rachel Komisarz nearly eclipsed her personal-best time of 1:45.39 set in 2004 with a time of 1:45.52 to win the women's 200 free in Minnesota. The Fish's Kate Ziegler, who continues to make a push towards a berth on the 800 freestyle relay for Team USA at the Olympics, raced to a second-place time of 1:45.77 – close to her personal-best time of 1:45.49 from Feb. 2006.

Athens Bulldog Mary Descenza finished third in 1:46.85, while teammate Kara Lynn Joyce took fourth in 1:48.13.

Other top finishers included Club Wolverine's Katie Carroll (1:48.86), Club Wolverine's Kaitlin Sandeno (1:49.08), Minnesota's Yuen Kobayashi (1:49.76) and Kim Vandenberg (1:49.91).

Men's 200 freestyle
The fourth-quickest performer in the event and holder of a plethora of short course records, Ryan Lochte had all he could handle with Tucson Ford's Adam Ritter trailing him. Lochte, however, wound up with the win in 1:35.55, while Ritter clinched second with a time of 1:35.98.

Club Wolverine claimed the next three spots with Chris DeJong (1:36.38), Peter Vanderkaay (1:36.69) and Davis Tarwater (1:37.02) taking third through fifth.

Simon Burnett of Tucson Ford and the world-fastest man in the event with a 1:31.20 in 2006, settled for sixth in 1:38.28. Tim Liebhold (1:39.47) and Minnesota's Curt Carlson (1:39.47) tied for seventh.

Women's 100 butterfly
Lakeside's Rachel Komisarz clocked a blistering time of 51.72 to jump into eighth all-time in the event. Previously, she owned a top time of 51.83 set in 2004. The 51.72, however, moved Komisarz ahead of Crissy Ahmann-Leighton's 51.75 set in 1992. Mary Descenza is next on the list for Komisarz with a 51.56 set in 2006. Descenza, meanwhile, placed second in 53.37, while Trojan Jessica Hardy took third in 54.61.

Kim Vandenberg (55.20), Boilermaker's Carlene Takaki (55.32) and Minnesota's Jillian Tyler (56.56) placed fourth through sixth, while Minnesota's Danielle Ridder (56.95) and Savannah's Kameron Ansley (57.02) closed out the A final. The Fish's Kate Ziegler, swimming in an off event, won the consolation heat in 56.69.

Men's 100 butterfly
Davis Tarwater of Club Wolverine won the men's 100 fly with a time of 48.12, while Peter Marshall finished second in 48.30. Athens Bulldog Peter Verhoef claimed third in 48.68, while Minnesota's Mike Woodson took fourth in 48.96.

The rest of the championship final came down to Minnesota's Dan Berve (49.79), Minnesota's Anthony Portela (50.07), Swim Omaha's Zac Samland (50.26) and Minnesota's Matt Engel (50.69).

Women's 200 IM
Club Wolverine's Kaitlin Sandeno posted the only sub-2:00 time of the evening with a winning readout of 1:59.81. While still well off her personal-best time of 1:57.53 set in 2004, the in-training effort was strong. Center Grove's Michelle McKeehan, who is on her way to Georgia next year, placed second in 2:00.12, while New Trier's Alisa Finn, 16, took third in 2:03.53.

Tucson Ford's Whitney Myers, the third-fastest swimmer in the event with a 1:54.88 in 2006, finished fourth in 2:04.13, while Minnesota's Deidre DeWall wound up fifth in 2:05.40.

Minnesota also placed 6-8 with Roxane Akradi (2:06.95), Emilia Nilsson (2:07.05) and Kait Strickland (2:07.64) comprising the rest of the championship heat.

Men's 200 IM
The fastest man on the planet in the 200-yard IM with a 1:40.55 from 2006, Ryan Lochte cruised to victory with a time of 1:45.14. Meanwhile, Mike Alexandrov, who is currently training in Florida but spent the bulk of his training over the past four years at Northwestern University, took second in 1:46.80. Tucson Ford's Adam Ritter completed the podium with a time of 1:47.72.

Tucson Ford's Simon Burnett (1:49.52), Tim Liebhold (1:49.92) and Suburban Swim's Ian Clark (1:51.40) touched fourth through sixth, while Minnesota's Russ Payne (1:51.49) and Jon Roberts (1:52.37) closed out the championship finalists.

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