Emma Muzzy Wins Three on Night Two of ISCA Dolfin Jr. National Cup

Photo Courtesy: Diana Pimer

The 2017 ISCA Dolfin Jr. National Cup is off and running once again. The meet is being held in the Long Center Pool at the Doyle Aquatic Center in Clearwater, Florida. The meet will take place from March 21-March 25 and will be conducted in a 16 & Under/Open format. Full results are available on Meet Mobile: 2017 Dolfin ISCA Junior Championship Cup.

16-year-old Emma Muzzy of the Virginia Gators stole the show tonight after being a part of two National Age-Group setting relays last night. Muzzy won three events including the 16 & Under 200 IM, 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke.

She began the night with a dominant win in the 200 IM in meet-record fashion. Her time of 1:57.84 broke her own record set last year of 2:01.13 and is the second-fastest time by a 16 year old so far this season in USA Swimming. NBAC’s Easop Lee took second in 1:59.27 and Coast Guard Blue’s Danika Katzer broke the 2:00 barrier for the first time taking third in 1:59.58. Muzzy’s 34.95 breaststroke split gave her the edge in this race, and later helped her earn another victory.

Not quite the meet record of 1:02.03, Muzzy claimed the 100 breast title by .10 seconds in 1:02.69. Grosse Point’s Alexis Wenger took a close second in 1:02.79 and Empire’s Josephine Panitz was third in 1:02.92. Panitz had the lead at the 50 in 29.31, but Muzzy completed a solid back half once again to take the win.

She was able to secure another meet record in the 100 back; her winning time of 52.65 was enough to edge out teammate Olivia Bray (52.67) for the title and break Elizabeth Nelson‘s meet record of 53.22. As per usual, Muzzy was exactly a half second behind at the 50 but brought it home in the end despite great underwater speed from Bray throughout the entire race. Lee picked up more hardware in this event as well by claiming third in 54.17.

Bray rounded out the 16 & Under events by giving the Virginia Gators a clean sweep in this division; her time of 23.87 in the 50 fly was just .01 off the meet record but was good enough for the win over the Mason Manta Ray’s Harna Minezawa (24.41). Enfinity Aquatics’ Olivia Carter placed third in 24.56.

Teammate Hannah Foster won the Open 200 IM in 1:59.32 followed closely by First Colony’s Danielle Hepler in 2:00.12. The Potomac Marlins’ Holly Jansen took third in 2:01.32. Jansen also claimed a victory of her own in the 100 breaststroke posting a meet-record swim of 1:01.11. Foster also took third in this in 1:03.17. She was beaten out by Southwest Aquatics’ Lauren Stigler in 1:02.00.

The 100 back saw a fresh group of women among the top three as Marcella Maguire of Ridgefield Aquatic Club stole the title in 53.62. Quest Swimming’s Camryn Curry took second in 54.87 followed by Tide’s Callie Dickinson in 55.30. The 50 fly ended in exciting circumstance as Greenwood Swimming’s Kasja Dymek and Ohio State Swim Club’s Rachel Peroni tied for the win in 24.88. First Colony’s Victoria Tillman took a close third in 24.94.

The Foster dominance did not end in the women’s open events as Carson Foster took the 16 & Under 200 IM in 1:46.92 and Jacob Foster claimed the 16 & Under 100 breast in 54.72. Both swims were roughly one second off their respective meet records – both set by Michael Andrew in 2015. Carson competes at the age of 15, and still has time to go after Andrew’s record of 1:45.29 next season. He also took fifth in the 100 breast (56.51) while Jacob claimed third in the 200 IM (1:47.62).

St. Croix’s Shane Blinkman was able to break up the Foster madness in the 200 IM by taking second in 1:47.06. He raced to gain advantage of the lead at the 150 mark but could not withstand a charging Foster. Foster now holds the second-fastest 15-year-old time this season only to Blinkman who swam a 1:46.03 at Winter Juniors. Blinkman also took third in the 100 breast in 55.54 and was beaten by ODAC’s Patrick Lacore in 55.37.

Blinkman made the top three once again in the 100 backstroke, taking second in 48.81. ODAC’s Caleb Mauldin won the event in 48.52 and Enfinity’s Kyle Barone took third in 49.41. East Coast Aquatics’ Cason Wilburn won the 16 & Under 50 fly in 22.04 followed by Episcopal’s Sterling Crane (22.34) and Enfinity’s Maxwell Edwards (22.61).

Khalil Fonder of VA Gators took the Open 50 fly in 21.77 followed by teammate Angelo Russo in 21.85. Ohio State Swim Club’s Benjamin Sugar took third in 22.15. Teammate Jason Mathews followed up a great medley relay split last night with a 54.45 victory in the 100 breast tonight. He was followed by Gator Keith Myburgh (54.80) and Shawmut’s Mitchell Gariepy (55.53).

Russo also took second in the 100 back in 48.41; he was joined atop the podium by Quest’s Clark Beach in 47.45 and McFarland’s Daniel Krueger in 49.02. Beach’s efforts broke the meet record previously held by Tide’s Harrison Pierce in 2014. The old record stood at 47.85. This also gives Beach a National Top 3 time in this event so far this season.

Myburgh (1:48.13) and Mathews (1:50.79) took second and third in the Open 200 IM behind Ridgefield’s Kieran Smith. Smith’s swim of 1:46.41 broke the meet record set last year by Michael Zarian in 1:47.69. This puts Smith second only to Reece Whitely in the national rankings in this event.

The night finished off with the 800 free relay where the Manta Rays and Gators battled it out to the end on the women’s side. Foster, Allison Bloebaum, Ashley Volpenhein and Cora Dupre got the win in the end in 7:17.74. This completely crushed the previous meet record of 7:32.86 set by Quest in 2014. Their swim was enough to edge out the Gators who raced to a 7:19.81. NBAC took third in 7:23.45.

Beach was joined by teammates Ethan Beach, Michael Stryker and Brennen Doss to do similarly in the men’s event. The Quest foursome broke the previous meet record by nearly ten seconds in route to victory in this event. Clark Beach put them ahead after leading off in 1:37.21 and the team never gave up the lead. The Manta Rays were second in 6:40.37 while the Gators took third in 6:42.05.

In the combined overall team scores, the Gators currently sit first with 345 points. The Manta rays are second with 288. Ohio State Swim Club is third with 222.50 followed by NBAC (121) and Quest (102).

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