YMCA National Long Course Championships: Haley Lips Doubles, Middle Tyger Takes the Lead

ATLANTA, Georgia, July 24. MIDDLE Tyger grabbed hold of the lead in the team standings behind two wins from Haley Lips, while six YMCA national records were tied or broken during the second night of racing.

Elkins' Maggie Miller picked up her first win of the meet in the first event of the night. Miller swam the women's 100m back in 1:04.15, topping Middle Tyger's Ali Gayler (1:04.51) and West Shore's Madeline Hoch (1:04.68). Gregoriy Tarasevich of Orlando snagged the men's race in 55.56, breaking the national YMCA record in the event. Steven Zimmerman of Countryside held the previous mark at 56.38, which he set two years ago. Upper Main Line's Nic Graesser also broke the record with a 55.84 for second, while West Cook's Kyle Patnode came in third at 58.07.

Haley Lips of Middle Tyger kept the ball rolling in the women's 400m free with another national record. Lips recorded a time of 4:17.56 to lower Shelby Fortin's 4:19.65 from 2010. Orlando's Kendall Dawson, who led for most of the race before being overtaken in the final 150m, swam a 4:17.80 to take second, while Waynesboro's Remedy Rule rounded out the top three in 4:21.55. Orlando's Justin Kaisrlik captured the men's 400m free in 4:02.89, just ahead of Hickory's Sava Turcanu (4:03.02), last night's winner of the 1500m free. Vlad Komarov of Upper Main Line took third in 4:03.13.

In the women's 50m breast, Somerset Valley's Rachel Stoddard held off Fanwood Scotch's Jodie Thompson down the stretch to win, 33.63 to 33.77. Anne Arundel's Katherine Parker out-touched several swimmers to take third in 34.23. In the men's race, Conner McHugh of Door County tied the YMCA national record of 29.47, set by Sean Johnson of Somerset Valley last year. McHugh was the only competitor under 30, as Lionville's Greg Grewal finished second in 30.11, followed by Somerset Valley's Zack Warner in 30.20.

Middle Tyger's Haley Lips collected her second gold medal of the evening after posting the fastest time in the women's 200m IM at 2:19.52. Greater Flint's Courtney Weaver placed second in 2:20.36, while Lips' teammate, Annie Gillig, earned third place with a 2:20.96. Chris DePietro gave Lancaster it's first win of the meet with a 2:06.62 in the men's IM, in front of Suncoast's David Morgan (2:07.94) and Orlando's Justin Kaisrlik (2:08.55).

In the final individual event of the night, Somerset Hills swimmer Jenna Immormino topped the women's 50m free in 26.43, just a tenth ahead of Upper Main Line's Shannon Rauth (26.53). Maddie Rusch of New Canaan slipped into third at 26.70. Joe Bonk of Triangle Area dominated the men's sprint, winning by almost .8 and breaking the YMCA national record with a 23.02. Elkins' Tim Squires held the old record at 23.15 from 2010. James Ross of Somerset Hills touched second in 23.81, with Middle Tyger's Robert Borowicz right on his heels in 23.86.

Upper Main Line's Emily Cornell, Devonne Moore, Maddie Zimmerman and Shannon Rauth topped the women's 200m medley relay with a new national record of 1:58.44, well under the standard of 1:59.45 set by Anne Arundel in 2009. Middle Tyger's foursome also beat the previous record with a 1:59.30. Upper Main Line made it a clean sweep of the relays with Nic Graesser, Brian Jay, Alex Schon and Matt Luminais breaking the YMCA record in the men's race with a 1:46.44. Somerset Valley finished just .02 behind, as both squads lowered ME Lyons' record of 1:46.68 from 2001.

At the conclusion of day two, Middle Tyger leads the team race with 361 points, 98 ahead of Upper Main Line (263). Wilton Family is in third at the moment with 260.5 points.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use