Abbey Weitzeil Closes Out Strong American Short Course Champs With Lifetime Best

AUSTIN, Texas, March 8. THE American Short Course Championships came to a close in Austin with another strong night of swimming from Canyons’ Abbey Weitzeil.

After clinching a pair of titles last night, Weitzeil was back at it tonight in the women’s 100-yard free. She blasted the field by nearly three seconds with a 47.59. That swim beat her previous lifetime best of 47.78 from Winter Junior Nationals in December, and is fast enough that it would have guaranteed her a spot at the NCAA Division I Women’s Championships in the event this year. Mei Linn Colby (50.30) and Emily Stucky (51.17) finished second and third.

BlueFish’s Laura Sogar smoked the women’s 200-yard breaststroke finale with a 2:07.61. That swim beat Abby Duncan (2:09.34) by more than a second as Sogar continues to tune up her stroke heading into an important summer as a post-graduate professional swimmer. Piper Brockley touched third in 2:17.24.

Texas’ Will Licon had a special swim in the men’s 200-yard breaststroke with a 1:54.40. That effort pushed him past the 1:55 barrier as he bettered his lifetime best of 1:55.40 from last month’s Big 12 Championships. His time tonight put him in a better spot to qualify for the NCAA Division I Men’s Championships. Texas’ Liam Lockwood finished second in 1:57.94 with California’s Chris Leon taking third in 1:58.57.

Karling Hemstreet stopped the clock in 1:58.48 to win the women’s 200-yard back, breaking 1:59 for the first time in her career. The Nitro swimmer’s previous lifetime best had been a 1:59.51 from the College Station Sectionals last month. Jenna Bauer took second in the finale with a 1:59.15, while Allie Parent placed third in 2:02.55.

TCU’s Cooper Robinson followed with a near lifetime best of 1:42.65 to win the men’s 200-yard back. That’s just off his 1:42.33 from Big 12s last month as Robinson was attempting to better his potential seed for NCAAs. Texas’ Austin Vacek finished second in 1:44.55 with Missouri’s Carter Griffin earning third in 1:45.02.

Brea 15-year-old Alexis Margett shot right through a pair of time barriers in the women’s 200-yard fly as the youngster took home the title in 1:58.41. Coming into today, her previous lifetime best had been a 2:00.86 from the Southern California Swimming Senior Meet last December. That’s a serious drop in just three months. Canyons’ Tamara Santoyo took secodn in 1:59.60 with Brea’s Kenisha Liu, another 15-year-old, placing third in 2:00.29.

Missouri’s Michael Chadwick raced his way to a men’s 100-yard freestyle title with a time of 43.78. Texas’ Keith Murphy touched second in 44.05 with Matthew Margritier claiming third in 44.30. Missouri’s Mack Darragh claimed the men’s 200-yard fly crown in 1:44.23 after clocking a 1:44.17 in prelims. Teammate Andrew Phillips wound up a close second in 1:44.54 after a 1:44.35 in prelims, while Texas’ John Martens also went slower than prelims with a third-place 1:44.79 after a 1:44.24 this morning.

Canyons’ Tamara Santoyo, Abbey Weitzeil, Mik Ranslem and Sophie Fiscella won the women’s 400-yard free relay with a 3:24.25 with a sizzling split of 48.31 from Weitzeil. Canyons’ B team of Nikol Popov, Ally Schultz, Alexa Skorus-Neely and Catie Anderson took second in 3:32.19, while Miami’s Kyla Valls, Laine Morgan, Alexa Kalandiak and Annie Valls placed third in 3:32.49.

Canyons’ Jessie Kim, Cole Cogswell, Kevin Dai and Ian Brower picked up the men’s 400-yard free relay title in 3:05.03. Golden West’s Nate Torres, Bradley Toland, Chris Viera and Thomas Gillespie placed second in 3:08.71, while Canyons’ B team of Jusin Lee, Austin Barreiro, Connor Shores and Gunnar Van Gent took third in 3:09.10.

The 1650s closed out the night. Alicia Mancilla won the women’s event with a 17:03.03, while Niki Urquidi took second in 17:05.93. Ally Schultz clinched third in 17:06.41. Michael McBroom, meanwhile, cruised to victory in 15:00.06 in the men’s 1650-yard free. Nic Munoz touched second in 15:02.04 with Ryan Nelson claiming third in 15:23.34.

Results For: American Short Course Championships: Day Three

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