MELBOURNE, Australia, January 6. LEAH Gingrich captured her first individual gold on Day 4 of the Victorian State Championships, highlighting another strong day of performances for the U.S. National Junior Team. The Americans captured six medals on Friday to bring its meet total to 29: nine gold, eight silver and 12 bronze.<\/p>\n
During the first three days of the meet, Gingrich had earned a medal of every color: gold as a member of the 800 freestyle relay, silver in the 400 free and bronze in the 200 butterfly and 1500 free. It was only the individual gold that eluded her. Gingrich got her chance on Friday in the 800 free, as she swam down Australian National Team members Elka Graham, Haley Reddaway and Caroline North to win the gold with a time of 8:39.89. American teammate Monica Drake posted an 8:43.31 to take home the bronze. In a stacked American field, four additional U.S. swimmers finished in the top 10.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe women\u2019s 800 free was an outstanding race,\u201d said Mike Parratto, women\u2019s assistant coach. \u201cIt has to give all of those distance girls and their coaches great confidence in their ability. I think their training will move to a whole new level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michelle McKeehan notched a double-bronze performance, finishing in third in both the 100 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley. In the 100m breast, McKeehan clocked a 1:09.93 to become the first Junior Team member to break the 1:10 barrier. Australian Olympic medalist Brooke Hanson won the gold in both events.<\/p>\n
Eugene Godsoe narrowly missed winning medals on Friday, but he put together an impressive performance to lead the men\u2019s team. Competing in three finals, Godsoe finished fourth in the 50 back and fifth in the 50 fly. He then took on Australian Olympians Michael Klim and Brett Hawke in the 100 free semifinals, qualifying in the eighth spot for tomorrow evening\u2019s final. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really glad I made it back in the 100 free,\u201d Godsoe said. \u201cI had a really slow turn. From the race analysis information, I think it was the slowest turn in the history of USA Swimming. If I can correct that, I should be successful tomorrow night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other U.S. medals on Day 4 included Josh Hafkin\u2019s silver in the 50 backstroke and Megan Romano\u2019s bronze in the 100m free. Day 5 of the Victorian Championships at the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre begins with heats at 9 a.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m. <\/p>\n
National Junior Team Results:<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 50 Back FINAL:
\nJosh Hafkin (Rockville, Md.), 26.36, Silver
\nEugene Godsoe (Greensboro, N.C.), 26.73, 4th <\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 50 Fly FINAL:
\nEugene Godsoe (Greensboro, N.C.), 25.73, 5th
\nDavid Seiler (Auburn, Calif.), 25.75, 6th <\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 100 Breast FINAL:
\nMichelle McKeehan (Greenwood, Ind.), 1:09.93, Bronze
\nCaitlin Leverenz (Tucson, Ariz.), 1:12.18, 4th
\nJessica Schmitt (San Diego, Calif.), 1:13.85, 6th <\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 200 IM FINAL:
\nMichelle McKeehan (Greenwood, Ind.), 2:17.89, Bronze
\nCaitlin Leverenz (Tucson, Ariz.), 2:19.81, 6th
\nKirsten Smith (Cary, N.C.), 2:20.73, 7th
\nKathleen Hersey (Atlanta, Ga.), 2:20.79, 8th
\nJessica Schmitt (San Diego, Calif.), 2:21.69, 10th <\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 100 Free FINAL:
\nMegan Romano (St. Petersburg, Fla.), 56.76, Bronze
\nKarlee Bispo (Modesto, Calif.), 57.41, 4th
\nSamantha Woodward (Edmond, Okla.), 57.70, 6th <\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 800 Free FINAL:
\nLeah Gingrich (Enola, Pa.), 8:39.89, Gold
\nMonica Drake (Bloomington, Ill.), 8:43.31, Bronze
\nChloe Sutton (Ashburn, Va.), 8:43.52, 4th
\nCorinne Showalter (Sarasota, Fla.), 8:49.57, 5th
\nJessica Rodriquez (Aurora, Colo.), 8:52.76, 6th
\nChelsea Franklin (Estero, Fla.), 8:58.09, 8th <\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 100 Free SEMI advancing:
\nEugene Godsoe (Greensboro, N.C.), 52.68, 8th <\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 50 Back SEMI advancing:
\nKristen Shickora (Tamaqua, Pa.), 29.68, 2nd
\nMegan Romano (St. Petersburg, Fla.), 30.41, 8th <\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 100 Fly SEMI advancing:
\nSamantha Woodward (Edmond, Okla.), 1:02.20, 4th
\nKathleen Hersey (Atlanta, Ga.), 1:03.04, 6th
\nTanya Krisman (Wildomar, Calif.), 1:03.10, 7th
\nTeresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.), 1:03.38, 10th <\/p>\n
Men\u2019s 50 Breast SEMI advancing:
\nDillon Connolly (Marietta, Ga.), 29.69, 3rd
\nClark Burckle (Louisville, Ky.), 30.65, 9th
\nTroy Nissen (Sacramento, Calif.), 30.67, 10th <\/p>\n
Women\u2019s 50 Free SEMI advancing:
\nSamantha Woodward (Edmond, Okla.), 26.61, 4th
\nKarlee Bispo (Modesto, Calif.), 26.70, 5th
\nMegan Romano (St. Petersburg, Fla.), 26.72, 6th
\nKristen Shickora (Tamaqua, Pa.), 27.09, 8th<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MELBOURNE, Australia, January 6. LEAH Gingrich captured her first individual gold on Day 4 of the Victorian State Championships, highlighting another strong day of performances for the U.S. National Junior<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n