U.S. Short Course Junior Nationals: Evan Pinion Posts Meet Record in 500 Free During First Night; Santa Clara Downs Relay National Age Group Record

ATLANTA, Georgia, December 9. THE first evening of short course yard swimming at the U.S. Junior Nationals held at Georgia Tech featured an individual meet record as well as several relay marks going up on the scoreboard.

Pilot's Evan Pinion put on a show in the men's 500 free with a 4:18.88, while Dynamo's Matias Koski finished second in 4:19.29 as both finished faster than Clay Youngquist's 2009 meet standard of 4:20.58. Palo Alto Stanford's Adam Hinshaw placed third overall in 4:23.05.

Swim Pasadena's Kathryn Campbell topped the women's 500 free in 4:41.47, while Team Florida's Lauren Driscoll wound up second in 4:42.21. Jewish Community's Leah Smith rounded out the top three in 4:43.44.

Loyola Blakefield's Tanya Kylliainen touched out Lindsay McKnight, 1:59.34 to 1:59.39, in the women's 200 IM finale. Brea Aquatics' Gretchen Jaques finished third in 2:00.24.

In an exciting finish, Greenwood Tiger's Jared Markham emerged from a foursome of 1:47s with a triumphant time of 1:47.28 in the men's 200 IM. Corvallis' Jacob Pebley took second in 1:47.46, while Blue Dolfins' Matthew Curby (1:47.47) and Metro's Carlos Omana (1:47.52) also clocked 1:47s.

By the slimmest of margins, First Colony's Madeline Locus clipped Star's Faith Johnson, 22.76 to 22.77, in the women's 50 free. Memphis Tiger's Lauren Harrington grabbed third-place honors in 22.88.

Gillette's Nick Dillinger captured the men's 50 free in 20.28. Golden Ram's Andrew Kosic (20.39) and New York Sharks' Stanley Wong (20.44) placed second and third.

In relay action, First Colony's Madeline Focus, Skylar Smith, Meaghan Connolly and Simone Manuel won the women's 200 free relay in 1:32.06. That swim cleared the meet record of 1:32.79 set by Baylor Swim Club in 2008. Dynamo's John Lane, Evan Browning, Gunnar Bentz and Matias Koski clocked a 1:21.83 in the men's 200 free relay. That swim surpassed the meet record of 1:22.41 set by Bolles School in 2008.

Sun Devil's Clara Jenck, Mary Olsen, Leticia Lelli and Katrina Simonovic topped the women's 400 medley relay in 3:42.08. That swim wiped out the meet record of 3:43.68 set last year. First Colony's Simone Manuel, Romy Landeck, Skylar Smith and Madeline Locus also beat the meet mark with a second-place 3:42.79.

Bolles' Ryan Murphy, Sergio Lujan Rivera, Joseph Schooling and Colin Hamilton won the men's 400 medley relay in a meet-record 3:18.57 with Murphy leading off with a speedy 49.54. That effort beat Bolles' 2009 standard of 3:19.29.

Additionally, Santa Clara's Samuel Shimomura, Chris Scheaffer, Stephen Shilling and Ian Burns downed the U.S. National Age Group record in the boys 15-16 200 free relay during prelims with a 1:25.05. That swim eclipsed the 1:25.17 set by Great Wolf in 2007. Santa Clara then finished fifth in the evening in 1:25.16.

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