Simone Manuel Lowers American Record, Michael Andrew Breaks Two NAGS At NASA Juniors

CLEARWATER, Florida, March 29. SIMONE Manuel of First Colony lowered her own American record in the women’s 100 free, while phenom Michael Andrew lowered two of his own National Age Group records in the 100 breast and 100 free tonight as the NASA Junior National Championship Cup came to a close in Clearwater.

The 1650 freestyles kicked off the final night of competition in Clearwater, with Marietta Marlins’ Stephanie Peters putting her stamp on the girls 17-18 event. Peters swam away with the title in 16:40.93, well off her seed time but still 20 seconds ahead of second place finisher Mariajose Oceguera of Badger (17:00.87). It was a pretty spread out final, as First Colony’s Delaney Quattlebaum touched 15 seconds behind Oceguera in third with a 17:15.09. The race for the 16-and-under trophy turned out to be much closer, as Taylor Ault from California and Anina Lund from Badger were neck-and-neck the entire way. Both swimmers split 27s on the final 50, but Ault got to the wall first, 16:31.30 to 16:31.61. Clearwater’s Marcella Ruppert-Gomez finished third in 16:43.96.

In the boys 17-18 mile, Michael Craddock of the Virginia Gators earned his first win of the meet, touching first in 15:23.30, a 21 second drop from his seed time. Californian Ryan Kao, who won the 200 free last night, also dropped a chunk of time, taking 14 seconds off his seed time to take second in 15:24.62. Clearwater’s Taylor Uselis claimed third in 15:28.98, also a personal best. In the 16-and-under mile, Santa Clara’s Aidan Burns made a run at another Jeff Kostoff National Age Group record, but came up just a few seconds short. Burns topped the field in 14:57.07, less than five seconds off Kostoff’s NAG of 14:52.39 from 1982. Clearwater’s Nazareno Boscaino stayed in contact with Burns to finish second in 15:05.90, while his brother, Ludovico, came in third with a 15:35.91.

Old Dominion’s Susan Hynes swept the breaststroke events at the meet, adding a win in the 100 breast to her earlier wins in the 50 and 200. Hynes finished the race in 1:03.42, just off her prelim time of 1:03.18. Tide’s Anna Dickinson finished second in 1:04.57, slightly ahead of Phoenix Aquatic Club’s Nicole Ciavarella (1:04.98). Madeline Banic of Quest had the fastest time in the younger division, cracking 1:04 with a 1:03.91. Mary Tansill of Occoquan touched two-tenths behind in 1:04.22, while Clearwater’s Mary Stumpf was third in 1:04.82.

Tide’s Austin Temple put up a very impressive time in the boys 17-18 100 breast, taking first in 52.87, a time that would have made the consolation final in the 100 breast at men’s NCAAs yesterday. Temple is on his way to the University of Texas next year and could make a huge impact as a freshman. Academy Aquatic Club’s Austin Sellers finished second in 56.13, while Old Dominion’s Jacob Kaskel rounded out the top three in 56.42. In the 16-and-under 100 breast, 14-year-old Michael Andrew lowered his own National Age Group record in the event, clearing 54 seconds for the first time ever with a 53.88. Andrew went out in 25.07 and came home in 28.81 to set his fourth NAG record of the meet. Tide’s Daniel Arris finished second in 55.90, while Multnomah’s Tristan Furnary placed third (57.91).

After setting the American record in this morning’s prelims with a 46.83, Simone Manuel of First Colony finished just off that in finals in 47.15. Her time was still well ahead of second place finisher Meredith Vay of Quest (49.98) and Michelle Turek of Clearwater (50.92). Quest’s Madeline Banic picked up another win in the younger age division, clipping MACG’s Alena Kraus at the finish, 50.87 to 50.98. First Colony’s Kenedy Thaman finished right behind the pair in 51.07.

Tide’s Harrison Pierce garnered his sixth individual title of the meet after posting a 44.68 to win the boys 17-18 100 free. Californian Keegan Shuping certainly made him work for it though, as he touched .14 behind in 44.82. Quest’s Jeffrey Newkirk placed third in 45.61. In the 16-and-under 100 free, Michael Andrew grabbed his second NAG record of the night, becoming the first 13-14 to break 44 seconds with a 43.90. He went out in 20.66 and came back in 23.24 to lower his own record of 44.16. Colin Riley of the Marietta Marlins finished second in 45.65, while Jordan Bovee of Old Dominion placed third in 46.05.

Sarasota’s Vien Nguyen earned another win in the girls 17-18 200 fly, hitting the wall in 1:56.49 to top Greenwood’s Megan Brown (1:58.79) and Emily Parillo (2:00.50). First Colony’s Alicia Finnigan and Florida’s Tyla Martin posted matching 2:02.20s to top the younger age division, a little over a second ahead of First Colony’s Brittany Bui, who took third in 2:03.79.

Ryan Kao got to the wall first in the boys 17-18 200 fly, posting a 1:45.86 to overtake Quest’s Joshua York (1:47.57) and Shawmut’s Shawn Nee (1:51.19). John Kale of Williamsburg had the best time for swimmers 16-and-under as he swam a 1:49.33 for the win. Grant Sanders (1:49.42) and Vance Sanders (1:50.90), both of Clearwater, finished second and third.

In the final individual event of the meet, Tri-City Channel Cats’ Lisa Bratton proved to be the best sprint individual medley swimmer, winning the 100 IM in convincing fashion with a 55.19. Simone Manuel of First Colony touched second in 57.90, just .16 ahead of Greenwood’s Megan Brown (58.06). Shawmut’s Molly Pierce had the best time in the 16-and-under event at 57.84, while First Colony’s Alicia Finnigan also broke 1:00 with a 58.60. Jennie Depaul of Old Dominion swam a 1:00.08 for third.

Harrison Pierce of Tide Swimming won his seventh individual event of the meet in the boys 17-18 100 IM, touching first in 50.00. Filipe Medeiros of Santa Clara and Mark Wilson of Tide finished in identical 51.54s for second. Tide’s Daniel Arris swam a 51.47 in the 16-and-under 100 IM to win that event ahead of Phoenix Aquatic Club’s Matthew Zugibe (52.81) and John Kilduff (52.92).

First Colony closed out the night with a win in the 400 free relay, highlighted by an American record from Simone Manuel leading off. Manuel, who set the previous mark this morning in 46.83, lowered her time to 46.75 to give her team a gigantic lead. She took the race out in 22.43 and came home in 24.32. Madison Varisco (53.40), Alicia Finnigan (52.58) and Kenedy Thaman (51.78) brought it home in 3:24.51.

Tide Swimming claimed the boys 400 free relay in 3:03.57 with legs from Daniel Arris (46.23), Austin Ryan (45.91), Mark Wilson (46.68) and Harrison Pierce (44.75). Old Dominion finished second in 3:05.23 and Clearwater placed third (3:06.55).

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