Close Races on Night 1 of West Lafayette Futures

Photo Courtesy: Andy Ross

By Andy Ross, Swimming World College Intern

The first annual futures championships kicked off in West Lafayette, Indiana Thursday evening. Swimmers from North Dakota down to Florida made the trip to Purdue to swim in the meet this weekend.

The first night of racing started off with the Women’s 800m Freestyle. Emily Meckstroth of Michiana Stars in Indiana took control early and won going away with an 8:51.02 just missing the Olympic Trial cut. Elizabeth Walker of Columbia Swim Club finished second at 8:53.88. Caitlyn McHugh of the Stingrays finished third at 8:58.87. Meckstroth will be a freshman at Purdue in the fall.

The Men’s 1500m Freestyle was won by Jackson Gunning of the Stingrays touching at 15:59.41. James Koval from South Carolina finished second at 16:08.10 and Hayden Curley from Highlander Aquatic Club was third at 16:12.11 from heat 1. Gunning will be a sophomore at the University of Kentucky.

The best race of the night was the Women’s 800m Freestyle Relay. Columbia Swim Club won it thanks to a great anchor from Kelley Tackett (2:04.45). The other members of the relay were Brittany Wen, Katherine Lydon and Elizabeth Walker. The team won with an 8:31.51 while Rockwood Swim Club was second at 8:31.81 and Kansas City Blazers was third with an 8:32.92.

The final event of the night went the way of the host team. Boilermaker Aquatics won the event finishing under the national cut time. The team of Luke Trimmer, Nate Hopkins, Jes Stephens and Adam Noens won the race at 7:41.20. The battle for second was a good one with Columbia Swim Club finishing second and Dynamo Swim Club finishing third. Both of those teams had great anchor legs from Dane Florea (1:55.35) and Christian Lorys (1:55.74) respectively.

The meet will continue tomorrow and conclude on Sunday.

Results can be found on Meet Mobile.

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