U.S. Junior Nationals: Meet Comes to End With Another Meet-Record Run; Dagny Knutson Takes Fourth Gold

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, August 8. WITH Olympic swimming just hours away, the youth movement in the U.S. was in full force as the U.S. Junior Nationals came to a close.

Dagny Knutson, 16, of Minot YMCA captured her fourth gold of the meet with a meet-record time of 2:14.95 in the women's 200 IM. She originally set the standard with a 2:16.86 during prelims, which cleared the 2007 mark of 2:17.21 set by current Olympian Elizabeth Beisel. Alisa Finn, 17, of Wildcat (2:16.19) and Meghan Hawthorne, 16, of Porter Valley (2:16.56) joined Knutson under her prelim record with second and third-place finishes, respectively.

After four swimmers surpassed Matt Thompson's 2007 meet record of 2:05.63 during prelims of the men's 200 IM, with Nick D'Innocenzo, 17, of Magnus leading the way with a 2:03.29, two more cleared the threshold during the finale. D'Innocenzo made good on his top seed at night with a time of 2:00.87, nearly breaking through the 2:00 barrier. Kyle Whitaker, 16, of Duneland placed second in 2:01.27, also under the former record, while Peter Benner of Savannah took third in 2:04.71.

Liv Jensen of Palo Alto claimed the third meet record of the night in the women's 50 free. She clocked a swift time of 25.47, wiping out the 25.85 set by Samantha Woodward in 2006. Betsy Webb, 17, of New Trier finished second in 25.90, while Kasey Carlson, 16, of Terrapins rounded out the top three in 26.07.

Vladimir Morozov, 16, of Swim Torrance dropped the meet record in the men's 50 free twice during the day. Morozov first topped prelims in 22.59 to lead five swimmers under Michael Arnold's 2007 standard of 23.35. Morozov returned in the evening to punch the wall in 22.44 to put himself on the map heading into the next year. Shayne Fleming, 16, of De Anza Cupertino took second in 22.76, while Joey Hale of Redlands finished third in 22.81.

Kirsten Groome of First Colony smashed best friend Chloe Sutton's meet record in the women's 1500 free. Groome turned in a time of 16:26.35, obliterating Sutton's time of 16:40.29. Haley Anderson, 16, of Sierra Marlins finished second in 16:33.27, while Amber McDermott, 15, of Salmon Bay snagged third in 16:35.52.

Jason Taylor, 17, of Brandon Sports followed in the men's 1500 free with a meet-record time of 15:34.70. That performance cleared the 15:40.84 set by Tyler Clary in 2006. Tyler Sell, 16, of City of Pembroke placed second in 15:36.29, while John Orban, 17, of Sarasota YMCA touched third in 15:37.79.

North Coast's Kendyl Stewart, Jessica Schmitt, Allison Knight and Katie Tomkinson then chopped a second off the meet record in the women's 400 medley relay. The squad touched in 4:15.02, taking down the 4:16.11 set by Curl Burke last year.

Schroeder YMCA's quartet of Mitchell Friedemann, William Colbert, Victor Leclere and Bert Cebertowicz closed out the meet in fine fashion with a meet-record effort of 3:47.75. That readout erased the 3:51.25 set by Barracuda last year in the men's 400 medley relay.

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