U.S. Junior Nationals: Dagny Knutson Doubles Among Meet-Record Party

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, August 5. WHILE the bulk of events witnessed meet records taking a tumble, Dagny Knutson, 16, of Minot YMCA stood out with a title double during the second night of swimming at the U.S. Junior Nationals.

Fresh off a remarkable run at the FINA World Youth Championships, Knutson ripped off a meet-record time of 55.67 in the women's 100 free. She originally tied the record of 56.35 set by Katherine Raatz in 2006, but Knutson knocked nearly another second from that time in finals. Rebecca Jones, 17, of Tide finished second in 56.34, also under the previous standard with Lauren Perdue, 17, of Greenville taking third in 56.55. Notably, Liv Jensen of Palo Alto also cleared the former record with a consolation final win in 56.08.

Vladimir Morozov, 16, of Swim Torrance followed up on a prelim meet-record swim of 50.38 that broke Austin Staab's 50.84 from 2007 with a finale time of 50.23 in the men's 100 free. Jordan Huff, 16, of Dubuque Area finished second in 50.74 after clearing the previous meet record in prelims with a 50.79. Karl Krug of Redlands Swim Team beat teammate Joey Hale, 50.94 to 51.72, for third.

With Jessica Schmitt, 17, of North Coast setting the women's 200 breast meet record with a prelim time of 2:31.47, breaking Laura Sogar's time of 2:31.94 from 2007, Micah Lawrence of Texas Gold ended the day with the standard. Lawrence, in the consolation heat, posted a time of 2:31.02 for the record. Haley Spencer, 17, of Rockwood won the overall title in 2:31.23, while Jordan Danny, 16, of Canyons touched right behind in 2:13.25 after taking second in prelims in 2:31.58. Schmitt settled for third in 2:31.38, while Alisa Finn, 17, of Wildcat also cleared the old meet record with a fourth-place 2:31.45.

The meet-record bonanza came to a halt in the men's 200 breast. Nick D'Innocenzo, 17, of Magnus gave John Criste's 2007 record of 2:17.18 a run both in prelims (2:17.29) and in finals (2:17.41), but came up just short in his winning effort. Tim Freeman of Walnut Creek earned second in 2:19.13, while Stuart Ferguson, 17, of Poseidon claimed third in 2:19.35.

Knutson returned with another victory, this time in the women's 200 back. She just missed another meet record, this time with an effort of 2:12.56. That time just missed the 2:12.20 set by Elizabeth Beisel in 2007. Bonnie Brandon, 14, of Mission Aurora finished a distant second in 2:14.46, while Stephanie Sarandos of Waukesha Express placed third in 2:14.87.

Eric Ress, 17, of SoNoCo followed with a win in the men's 200 back. He turned in a time of 2:02.48, while Cole Cragin, 17, of The Fleet finished second in 2:03.03. Andrew Gemmell, 17, of Delaware took third in 2:03.88.

Adrienne Bicek, 17, of Express got the meet back on track in the meet-record column. She clocked a time of 2:11.46 to lower her own standard of 2:11.61 set during prelims of the women's 200 fly. That preliminary readout erased the 2:12.00 posted by Abbie Fish last year. Lauren Harrington, 15, of Memphis Tiger touched second in 2:13.45, while Whitney Lopus of Brophy East placed third in 2:13.60.

Kyle Whitaker, 16, of Duneland then completed the second night of action at Junior Nats with a meet record in the men's 200 fly. He registered a time of 1:59.88 to clip David Mosko's 2005 meet standard of 2:00.18. Todd McGraw of the Virginia Gators placed second in 2:00.31, while teammate Frederico Castro finished third in 2:00.51.

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