GOODYEAR \u2013 Olympians, NCAA champions and junior national champions highlighted the men\u2019s competition last week at the Arizona senior state short course championships, while several rising stars in the women\u2019s meet got the opportunity to shine as well.<\/p>\n
In the team race, Scottsdale Aquatic Club and Phoenix Swim Club battled throughout the four-day meet, with Scottsdale winning the combined team title with 1,696 points to Phoenix\u2019s 1.392. Scottsdale won the women\u2019s meet with 1,124 points, while Phoenix took the men\u2019s team title with 705 points.<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s meet<\/strong> Hoffer, a multiple short course junior national champion last December, did not win any events but was runner-up in three of his races. The star sprinter branched out into the 200 backstroke, where he posted a lifetime best 1:50.45 behind the winning time of 1:48.85 from Tucson Ford\u2019s Matt Lujan. Hoffer was also second in the 50 free (19.98) and 100 free (44.60).<\/p>\n Darian Townsend of Scottsdale Aquatics, preparing to compete for the United States this summer at the Pan American Games in the 100 free, won that event with a 44.07 ahead of Hoffer. In the 200 IM, one of his specialty events, he was no match for the rest of the field, winning by seven seconds with a 1:44.86. Townsend was also the class of the field in the 200 free, cruising to a 1:35.90 and pulling Arizona Gold\u2019s Mark Jurek along to a 1:39.73 as the only two swims under 1:40 at the meet. Townsend was also third in the 50 free with a 20.10.<\/p>\n Phoenix Swim Club\u2019s postgrad group won two events, including a sweep of the top four places in the 100 butterfly. Kohei Kawamoto, returning to Phoenix in his quest to make Japan\u2019s Olympic team, took first with a 46.09. Giles Smith, a multiple NCAA championship finalist in the 100 fly for the University of Arizona, was second with a 46.28. Alex Coci, a native of Romania, took third in 46.49 while Erik Risolvato was fourth with a 47.93. Risolvato, 21, touched out Hoffer to win the 50 free with a 19.67, just slightly faster than the 19.69 he swam in the leadoff leg for Phoenix\u2019s 200 free relay and a few hundredths off his lifetime best of 19.62 from 2012 at the Ohio high school state championships.<\/p>\n Carl Mickelson of Scottsdale was the other postgrad swimmer to win at the meet, taking both breaststroke races. He took down high school state champion Matt Anderson of Phoenix Swim Club with a 53.74 in the 100 breast and was the only swimmer under two minutes in the 200 breast with a 1:57.13.<\/p>\n Lujan was the only high school swimmer to win more than one event on the men\u2019s side. In addition to his 200 backstroke victory, the future Arizona Wildcat won the 100 back with a 50.65.<\/p>\n Two youngsters joined Fail to showcase high school swimmers in the distance freestyle events. Aaron Apel of Scottsdale, 16 years old, won the 500 free with a 4:32.93, while 18-year-old Keith Brazzell of Tucson Ford posted a 16:22.37 to win the 1650 free by 22 seconds.<\/p>\n Alexander Martinez, representing Rio Salado Swim Club, used strong butterfly and breaststroke legs to win the 400 IM with a 4:03.56. Also in the race were Isaac Stump of the TJCC Stingrays and Jared Norton of Phoenix Swim Club, who battled for second place. Stump got the touchout with a 4:06.82 to Norton\u2019s 4:06.98.<\/p>\n Kyle Ewoldt gave Mesa Aquatics its sole victory of the men\u2019s meet with a 1:50.48 in the 200 butterfly. Ewoldt, an 18-year-old headed to the University of Denver, barely beat out the 1:50.91 swum in prelims by 35-year-old Brent Creager of Arizona Gold to put up the fastest time at the meet. Notably, Creager just missed the U.S. Masters Swimming national record of 1:50.74 in the 35-39 age group, swum in 1999 by Bobby Patten.<\/p>\n Also of note was the sole swim by South African Olympic champion Roland Schoeman. As a leadoff swimmer for one of Phoenix Swim Club\u2019s 200 free relays, Schoeman posted a 20.18.<\/p>\n Women\u2019s meet<\/strong> Phoenix Swim Club\u2019s Carlson had a diverse meet, winning the 50 free with a 23.39, the 100 free with a 50.80 and the 400 IM with a 4:26.68. Her times in the 50 free and 400 IM were lifetime bests, whle Carlson just missed a best time in the 100 free by just six hundredths of a second. Her win in the 100 free was just seven hundredths of a second faster than longtime rival Toris (50.87). Carlson also won the 50 free by a few inches, beating Scottsdale\u2019s Samantha Fazio\u2019s 23.47 and the 23.73 by Toris. Carlson, 16 years old, was able to win the 400 IM by 1.5 seconds over Rio Salado\u2019s Karilyn Quon.<\/p>\n Harrison, like her Phoenix Swim Club teammate Carlson, also demonstrated some versatility at the state meet with victories in the 500 free with a 4:59.65 and the 1650 free with a 17:00.88. She shook up her schedule with a 2:01.26 to win the 200 back.<\/p>\n Jocelyn Wang of Scottsdale won two events in one day as she posted a 2:02.76 in the 200 fly and later returned for a 2:04.51 in the 200 IM. Also winning two events was Arizona Gold\u2019s Adriana Palomino, who started the meet by just missing breaking the 10:00 barrier in the 1000 free with a 10:00.14 to beat Scottsdale\u2019s Taylor Ruck by three seconds. A couple of days later, Palomino, 18, kept Toris from another win with a 1:50.76 in the 200 free over Toris\u2019 1:50.85. Wang was in the race as well, settling for third with a 1:51.28.<\/p>\n Hannah Holman of Scottsdale, off to the University of Tennessee in the fall, captured two sprint events at the meet. She won her specialty, the 100 breaststroke, with a 1:03.92 and also captured the 100 fly title with a 55.33 ahead of two others also under 56 seconds. Emma Segneri of Scottsdale (55.90) and Madison McGinnis of Arizona Seals (55.93) came within inches of grabbing the state title.<\/p>\n Grace Horvath of Mesa and Emma Broome of Scottsdale rounded out the winners in the girls\u2019 meet. Horvath kept Holman from a triple victory at the meet, winning the 200 breast with a 2:17.24 to Holman\u2019s 2:17.30. Broome led a 1-2-3 sweep of the 100 back for Scottsdale with a 55.71. Toris (56.30) and Emily Huffer (56.34) completed the top three.<\/p>\n
\nRyan Hoffer of Scottsdale and Brooks Fail of the Tucson JCC Stingrays tied for the men\u2019s high-point award. Fail won the 1000 freestyle with a lifetime best 9:17.18 and placed in the top five in three others on his way to collecting 79 points. <\/p>\n
\nMatti Harrison and Savanna Carlson had the most successful meets, with each collecting three individual wins. Harrison scored high in many other events to gain the high-point award with 113 points ahead of the 107 by Scottsdale\u2019s Victoria Toris. <\/p>\n