Michael Andrew Erases Two National Age Group Records During Night Two At NASA Junior Nationals

CLEARWATER, Florida, March 27. MICHAEL Andrew broke two more 13-14 National Age Group records in the 50 free and 100 fly and Santa Clara’s Aiden Burns just missed out on another in the 500 free during the second night of racing at the NASA Junior National Championship Cup in Clearwater. Andrew now has three NAG records at the meet and 10 of the 14 short course yards NAG records for 13-14 boys.

In tonight’s opening event, the 200 breast, Old Dominion’s Susan Hynes sliced almost two full seconds off her personal best to take first in the girls 17-18 division in 2:15.47. Prince William Swim Club’s Kelly Henry finished just off her best time with a 2:19.05 for second, while Phoenix Aquatic Club’s Nicole Ciavarella dropped a second from her prelim swim to round out the top three in 2:19.38. Meanwhile, a tight race developed for the 16-and-under title in the event, as Potomac Marlins’ Holly Jansen and Occoquan Swimming’s Mary Tansill were neck and neck throughout the race. At the finish, Tansill just held on for the win, 2:17.54 to 2:17.57. Clearwater’s Mary Stumpf placed third in 2:18.44.

Tide Swimming’s Austin Temple, who’s headed to the University of Texas in the fall, looked impressive in the men’s 17-18 200 breast, dropping about half a second from his personal best to win in the only sub-2:00 swim of the event, a 1:58.30. Michael Craddock of the Virginia Gators out-touched Santa Clara’s Filipe Medeiros for second place, 2:00.77 to 2:00.88. In the 16-and-under event, 14-year-old Michael Andrew of Indie Swimming closed in on the 13-14 National Age Group record in the event with a 1:59.63. That was under Reece Whitley’s old NAG record of 2:00.14 from 2013, but not quite fast enough to get Whitley’s still-pending 1:58.39 from a couple weeks ago. Tide Swimming’s Daniel Arris stayed close to Andrew for most of the race but faded down the stretch to finish second in 2:01.94. Foxjet’s Griffin Back rounded out the top three in 2:05.82.

In the women’s 17-18 50 free, three swimmers finished within .13 of one another in one of the closest races of the evening. Clearwater’s Alexandra Aitchison led the way, nearly breaking 23 with a 23.06. Quest’s Meredith Vay dropped half a second from her previous best to take second in 23.14, just ahead of Potomac Marlins’ Gloriya Mavrova (23.19). In the 16-and-under division, Auburn’s Sarah Chambliss hit the wall first in 23.18, .03 in front of Quest’s Madeline Banic (23.21). Sydney Pickrem of Clearwater emerged from a tightly packed group to take third in 23.45.

Tide Swimming’s Harrison Pierce went two-for-two in the sprint events after winning the 50 back last night. Pierce, who will attend Virginia Tech for college next year, almost cracked 20 in the 50 free with a winning time of 20.09 in the 17-18 division, just off his prelim swim of 20.06. Spare Time Aquatics’ Keegan Shuping touched second in 20.32, while Virginia Gator Guilherme Magnoler placed third in 20.84. In the 16-and-under event, Michael Andrew lowered his own National Age Group record set just a few weeks ago from 19.85 to 19.76. Marietta Marlin Colin Riley touched in 20.39 to finish second, while Los Angeles Swim Club’s John Chu came in third in 21.14.

After winning the 100 back last night, Lisa Bratton of the Tri-City Channel Cats topped the field again in the longer distance, posting a 1:53.64 for the win. Bratton, who’s headed to Texas A&M this fall, lowered her personal best of 1:55.39 in the swim. Sarasota’s Vien Nguyen gave Bratton a pretty good race with a 1:55.10, well under her previous best of 1:57.48. Greenwood Swimming’s Megan Brown also recorded a best time in finishing third (1:57.60). Phoenix Aquatic Club’s Christina Paspalas had the best time in the 16-and-under event, breaking 2:00 for the first time with a stellar 1:58.80. La Mirada Armada’s Kiri Harvey nearly joined her in the sub-2:00 club but came up just shy with a 2:00.38. Tide’s Callie Dickinson rounded out the top three in 2:01.88.

In the men’s 17-18 200 back, SAC’s Shawn Nee, Bend Swim Club’s Brandon Deckard and Quest’s Joshua York treated the crowd to a back-and-forth battle, as the three swimmers traded leads throughout the swim before Nee pulled away to finish first in 1:45.47. Deckard, who flipped two seconds behind Nee and York at the halfway point, closed in on the second 100 to take second in 1:45.99, while York ended up third in 1:46.43. Tristan Furnary of Multnomah Athletic Club posted a stellar swim in the 16-and-under event, finishing four and a half seconds faster than his entry time with a 1:47.70. Clearwater’s Grant Sanders put up a fight but ended up second in 1:48.08, while Matthew Lujan also cleared 1:49 with a 1:48.80 for third.

University of South Carolina recruit Meredith Vay, representing Quest Swimming, touched first in the women’s 17-18 100 fly in 54.98, four-tenths ahead of Old Dominion’s Logan Williams, who posted a time of 55.38. Monmouth Barracudas’ Karli Rymer rounded out the top three in 55.75. Quest’s Madeline Banic actually had the fastest time of the night from the 16-and-under event at 54.39, a tenth ahead of Auburn’s Sarah Chambliss’ 54.49. Makos Aquatics Club’s Alena Kraus placed third in 55.29.

Tide’s Harrison Pierce picked up his second win of the night in the 17-18 100 fly, winning by a full second and knocking a second off his best time with a 47.52. Great Wolf Swim Team’s Colter Allen also dropped a second, touching second in 48.53. Quest’s Joshua York earned another top-three finish with a 48.88. Michael Andrew lowered his third National Age Group record of the night and fourth of the meet in the 16-and-under 100 fly. Andrew posted a 47.23 (21.74/25.49) to lower his own record of 47.40. Multnomah Athletic Club’s Tristan Furnary got on the podium again with a 49.72, while Phoenix Aquatic Club’s Matthew Zugibe also broke 50 with the third-best time (49.97).

Sarasota’s Vien Nguyen had an outstanding race in the 17-18 girls 500 free, chopping 10 seconds off her seed time with a 4:42.66, a time that would have placed 24th at the recent NCAA Division I national championships last week. La Mirada Armada’s Taylor Ault also recorded a personal best, taking two seconds off her seed time to finish second in 4:47.14. Stephanie Peters of the Marietta Marlins finished third in 4:50.31. Fourteen-year-old Marcella Ruppert-Gomez of Clearwater and 16-year-old Anina Lund of Badger put on a show in the younger age division, finishing .13 apart in the race. Ruppert-Gomez got her hand on the wall first in 4:52.54, slightly ahead of Lund’s 4:52.67. Virginia Gator Maggie Harman placed third in 4:54.88.

La Mirada Armada’s Ryan Kao got to the wall first in the men’s 17-18 500 free, earning a two-second win over Clearwater’s Taylor Uselis, 4:24.79 to 4:26.79. Logan Burton of Old Dominion came in third at 4:28.77. In the 16-and-under 500 free, Santa Clara’s Aiden Burns just missed out on a National Age Group record for the second time in two days. Burns, who finished just outside the 15-16 NAG record in the 1000 free last night, just missed Townley Haas’ record of 4:17.45 with a 4:17.97. Nazareno Boscaino of Clearwater took second behind Burns in 4:22.03, ahead of teammate Grant Sanders’ 4:28.13 in third.

First Colony’s foursome of Simone Manuel (21.90), Kenedy Thaman (23.55), Ashley Mercadel (24.05) and Madison Varisco (24.12) topped the 200 free relay field in 1:33.62, as Manuel just missed her own National Age Group record of 21.70 in the 17-18 50 free. Tide Swimming topped the men’s relay with Harrison Pierce (20.24), Austin Ryan (21.08), Daniel Arris (21.19) and Mark Wilson (21.08) posted a 1:23.59 for the win.

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