![\"100](\"\/media\/Jendrick,Megan-100b.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBy Nathan Jendrick<\/p>\n
FEDERAL WAY, Washington, March 31. THE fourth day of the Spring Championships brought out more repeat champions as well as some more new faces showcasing their talent, something this meet has done a fantastic job of when it comes to giving the world a glimpse of what could be the future of United States swimming.<\/p>\n
The night started off with a tightly contested women\u2019s 100 backstroke. Off the wall, the group was close and it was still anyone\u2019s race. The lead changed back and forth on the second length but as the swimmers neared the flags, it was Federal Way\u2019s own Ariana Kukors of KING who took the title in 1:02.89, ahead of Julia Smit (TVSC), the top qualifier from this morning, who touched in 1:03.20. <\/p>\n
For the men, the 100 back was the complete opposite from the women when it came to race control. Adam Mania (Wisconsin Aquatics) shot quickly off the wall (.57 reaction time) and took an early lead that he never relinquished. Mania touched first at the 50 in 26.69 and was well ahead at the finish in 55.27. He was followed by 2004 Hungarian Olympian Viktor Bodrogi, who touched in 56.59. <\/p>\n
The only individual event swum tonight longer than 100 meters was the 400 freestyle. Further showing her versatility, Katie Hoff (NBAC) took her third title of the meet by winning the eight-lap freestyle in convincing fashion. Hoff kept a smooth cadence from start to finish and pulled into the wall at 4:09.27 after being one-tenth under American record pace at the 100 meter mark. <\/p>\n
Hoff finished well ahead of SMU\u2019s Flavia Rigamonti, who had the second podium position locked up from the start, at 4:15.14. Hoff\u2019s time was quite impressive given that when it comes to 400 meters of racing she\u2019s generally associated with the individual medley. Her time tonight would have ranked her the 12th fastest performer in 2005.<\/p>\n
In the men\u2019s 400, the top five seeded athletes were all slotted within seven-tenths of one another, all with 3:58 morning swims. The remaining three swimmers were low 3:59 seeds, giving the perception that this race was one to watch. Chip Peterson took an early lead, but it was Justin Mortimer (Mission Viejo) who came on strong after 200 meters to take the lead, hold it, and touch first in 3:53.90. <\/p>\n
Megan Jendrick, the 2000 Olympic gold medalist in the event and winner of the 200 breaststroke at these championships, made it a breaststroke double by taking the 100 meter title in 1:08.28, greatly outdistancing herself from the field. After a morning swim of 1:08.73, Jendrick was the top seed by over two seconds coming into tonight.<\/p>\n
The 100 breaststroke for men, much like the 200 two days ago, provided ample opportunity for a new generation of breaststroke swimmers to emerge onto the national scene. With an open field, every A finalist had a realistic shot at taking the championship. But right from the start USC\u2019s Mihaly Flasky made the race his own, touching first at the 50 and touching first at the wall in 1:02.18.<\/p>\n
Felicia Lee (NBAC), just one one-hundredth away from the 13-14 National Age Group record held by Mary T. Meagher, took the women\u2019s 100 meter butterfly in 59.72, the only swimmer under one minute. Kerr-McGee\u2019s Samantha Woodward took second in 1:00.02.<\/p>\n
Ricky Berens from MAC was the men\u2019s 100 fly winner, touching in 53.50, comfortably ahead of the 200 butterfly champion Daniel Madwed, who came in second at 54.13. It was unfortunately neglected as it happened, but Madwed\u2019s 200 butterfly from Wednesday night made him the seventh fastest American over the history of the event.<\/p>\n
Closing out the night were the team relays. The ladies from Southern Methodist University, in 3:48.79, won the women\u2019s 400 freestyle relay. A tough battle followed behind them between North Baltimore, USC and KING for second, with NBAC touching ahead at 3:50.40, USC at 3:52.61 and KING at 3:52.77. From the B final, the USC men\u2019s squad took the 400 freestyle relay championship in 3:28.09. The top A final time came from the Mission Viejo Nadadores at 3:30.61.<\/p>\n
These Spring Championships will conclude Saturday with the women\u2019s 1,500 and men\u2019s 800 freestyles, the 200 IM, the 50 freestyle and the 400 medley relay.<\/p>\n
Photos at Right:<\/b> Top (Ricky Berens); Second (Megan Jendrick); Third (Felicia Lee); Fourth (Katie Hoff).<\/p>\n
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![\"Felicia](\"\/media\/Lee,-Felicia-100fly.jpg\")
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![\"400](\"\/media\/Hoff,-Katie-400free.jpg\")
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By Nathan Jendrick FEDERAL WAY, Washington, March 31. THE fourth day of the Spring Championships brought out more repeat champions as well as some more new faces showcasing their talent,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76342,"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":[6,8,7,10,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college","category-high-school","category-usa","category-world","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n