2015 USA Swimming Junior Nationals: Day 4 Finals Live Recap

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Everything you need to follow along with finals live during the 2015 USA Swimming Summer Junior Nationals. Hit refresh for the latest coverage.

Event Schedule

Women’s 200 Freestyle
Men’s 200 Freestyle
Women’s 200 Breaststroke
Men’s 200 Breaststroke
Women’s 100 Backstroke
Men’s 100 Backstroke
Women’s 800 Free Relay

Women’s 200 Freestyle

Taylor Ruck ran away with the A final of the 200 freestyle with a 1:59.79. Ruck led from start to finish, but it was her closing split of 30.49 that really separated her from the rest of the field. Both Jennifer Campbell (2:00.95) and Erika Brown (2:01.07) flipped about .4 behind Ruck at the 100 but couldn’t catch her in the second half of the race. Melissa Fish (2:01.31), Morgan Tankersley (2:01.49), Katrina Konopka (2:01.77), and Jessica Merritt (2:02.21) all finished under the Olympic Trials Standard of 2:02.39.

Sophie Skinner (2:02.00) just out-touched Diana Dunn (2:00.04) to win the B final. Mary Pelton from NBAC won the C final in 2:02.49.

Men’s 200 Freestyle

Maxime Rooney continued a strong meet with a 1:49.19 victory in the 200 freestyle. Rooney’s time was just off of Caleleb Dressel’s meet record of 1:48.64 from 2013. Rooney led the race from start to finish, flipping at 52.43 at the 100, almost a second ahead of second place finisher Aukai Lileikis (1:49.90). Third place finisher Park Jones just barely missed breaking 1:50, posting a time of 1:50.01. The top four in the race finished under the Olympic Trials cut, with fourth place finisher James Murphy recording a 1:51.57.

Also under the Trials standard was B Final winner Jeff Newkirk in 1:51.76. Will Macmillan won the C Final in 1:52.25.

Women’s 200 Breaststroke

Miranda Tucker swam away with the 200 breaststroke win in a time of 2:28.14, the only swimmer to break 2:30. The race for 2nd through 4th was tight, with all 3 finishing with 2:31’s. Grace Zhao took second in 2:31.00, Ella Nelson was third with 2:31.65, and Madeleine Vonderhaar was fourth in 2:31.70. The top 8 finishers all finished under the Olympic Trials standard of 2:34.99.

Julia Poole won the B Final with a time of 2:32.55 to clear the Trials standard. Allie Raab won the C Final in 2:32.01 to clear the Trials standard and drop more than 4 seconds from her prelims time.

Men’s 200 Breaststroke

Reece Whitley stole the show in the 200 breaststroke, dropping a half second from his prelims swim to set a meet record and 15-16 NAG record with a 2:12.47. The previous record was a 2:12.88 held by Gunnar Bentz. Whitley finished more than 2.5 seconds ahead of second place finisher Ethan Browne (2:14.88). Marco Guarente actually led at the 50 over Whitley (30.52 vs. 30.60) before fading through the final 150 to finish third in 2:17.05. Daniel Chang (2:18.01) and Calvin Yang (2:18.36) finished fourth and fifth and cleared the Trials standard of 2:18.39.

Alex Jahan won the B final in 2:18.38, finishing a hundredth under the Olympic Trials standard. Billy Monjay won the C final in 2:19.59, just a second off of the Olympic Trials standard.

Women’s 100 Backstroke

The two 13-year olds stole the show in the 100 backstroke going 1-2. Alex Walsh, the leader through prelims, took the win in 1:00.84, while Regan Smith snagged second in 1:01.32. That was Walsh’s first time under 1:01 and places her second all-time for 13-14 year old’s behind superstar Missy Franklin. Grace Ariola (1:01.38), Ella Eastin (1:01.61), and Hanni Leach (1:01.94) were all tightly bunched behind, while Elise Haan (1:02.40), Courtney Mykkanen (1:03.10) and Tevyn Waddell (1:03.29) rounded out the heat. All eight A finalists were under the Olympic Trials cut of 1:03.39.

Emma Seiberlich took the B final with a time of 1:02.56 to clear the Trials standard. Ali Gayler and Solie Laughlin tied to take the C final in 1:02.98, both under their prelims times and clearing the Trials standard.

Men’s 100 Backstroke

Michael Andrew gave the crowd its second meet record of the night as he broke through the 55-second barrier to win the 100 backstroke in 54.99. The previous meet record was a 55.46 held by Vlad Morozov from 2010. Andrew’s time took almost a full second off of his prelims swim and puts him 2nd all time for 15-16 year olds behind Ryan Murphy.

The following three finishers all cleared the 56-second barrier, with Daniel Carr (55.64) second, Austin Katz (55.92) third, and David Crossland (55.97) fourth. Thomas Anderson (56.32), Cameron Craig (56.38), Glen Cowland (56.84), and Taylor Delk (56.92) rounded out the top 8. All eight A finalists cleared the Olympic Trials standard of 57.19.

Dean Farris won the B final in 57.16 to just get under the Olympic Trials standard. Noah Henry grabbed the C final win in 56.68 to clear the Trials standard.

Women’s 800 Freestyle Relay

The top 3 finishers in this event all came from Heat 2. The Scottsdale team of Shae Nicolaisen, Victoria Toris, Jocelyn Wang, and Taylor Ruck took the 800 Free Relay in 8:14.71. Notably, Taylor Ruck had a lightning fast 1:58.89 anchor swim (almost a second faster than her earlier win in the individual 200 free) to bring the ladies home and seal the victory.

The SwimMac team of Becca Postoll, Jessica Merritt, Nora McCullagh, and Erika Brown was not far behind in 8:15.15, while the Waves Bloomington team of Hannah Sakaluk, Grace Ariola, Hannah Boyd, and Melissa Pish finished another second back in 8:16.41.

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