AUSTIN, Texas, November 29. THE Arizona Wildcats dominated night one of the U.S. Winter Short Course Nationals with a relay sweep, while plenty of Olympians put up some stellar times throughout the evening in Austin.<\/p>\n
Women's 200 free relay<\/b>
\nArizona threw down a meet record in the finale, taking down the short-lived standard of 1:29.21 set by Southern California during prelims. Arizona's Margo Geer (21.82), Megan Lafferty (22.00), Kaitlyn Flederbach (22.23) and Alana Pazevic (22.58) blitzed the field with a winning time of 1:28.63, far surpassing the NCAA A cut of 1:29.80.<\/p>\n
Texas' Ellen Lobb (22.28), Kelsey Amundsen (22.26), Gretchen Jaques (22.56) and Bethany Adams (22.04) placed second at home with a 1:29.14 for an A cut of their own, while USC's Kasey Carlson (21.90), Jasmine Tosky (22.94), Katarzyna Wilk (22.11) and Joan Christel Simms (22.52) checked in with third-place 1:29.47, a bit slower than their prelim swim.<\/p>\n
Arizona B (1:31.04), UCLA (1:31.24), USC B (1:32.13), Indiana (1:32.40) and TCU (1:33.37) rounded out the championship finale.<\/p>\n
Men's 200 free relay<\/b>
\nArizona's Giles Smith (19.71), Mitchell Friedemann (19.20), Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or (19.48) and Nicholas Popov (19.56) just missed the meet record with a sterling time of 1:17.95. USC's time of 1:17.90 set at the 2010 edition of the meet in Columbus withstood the effort. However, it is good news for the Wildcats as Arizona now has its NCAA A cut salted away in the event, clearing the 1:18.36 that is the automatic qualifying standard. <\/p>\n
USC's John Wagner (19.75), Fred Abramyan (20.06), Chase Bloch (19.69) and Paul Davis (19.87) finished second in 1:19.37, while Texas' Charles Moore (20.15), Madison Wenzler (19.98), Kerrington Hill (19.46) and Dax Hill (19.46) placed third in 1:19.53.<\/p>\n
Texas B (1:19.69), Arizona B (1:20.26), Michigan State (1:20.61), Cleveland State (1:21.60) and USC B (1:22.32) also competed for the national title. <\/p>\n
Women's 500 free<\/b>
\nNCAP's Katie Ledecky gave it a go, but wound up just a bit short of the 15-16 U.S. National Age Group record in the event with a winning time of 4:34.53. That swim just missed Katie Hoff's age division standard of 4:34.21 set back in 2006, but did represent Ledecky's first time under 4:35 as she downed her lifetime best of 4:35.14 set in 2011 at the National Age Group Challenge. She moved up to ninth all time in the event's history as well with her swim, and became the second-fastest 16-and-under ever. Dagny Knutson was the second fastest with a 4:34.78 as a 16-year-old back in 2008. <\/p>\n
For more context on Ledecky's time, she would have finished second at the NCAA Division I Women's Championships last March. USC's Haley Anderson won in 4:34.48, while Georgia's Amber McDermott took second in 4:35.09.<\/p>\n
Anderson claimed second-place honors tonight in 4:36.87, an NCAA A cut in the event, while U.S. Junior National Teamer Leah Smith of JCC Sailfish took third in 4:36.90. Minnesota's Ashley Steenvoorden (4:41.55), Texas' Kelsey Leneave (4:43.31), Indiana's Lindsay Vrooman (4:43.35), Arizona's Bonnie Brandon (4:44.92) and Texas' Kaitlin Pawlowicz (4:45.73) rounded out the championship heat. <\/p>\n
The Fish's Isabella Rongione, 13, became the third-fastest 13-and-under with her C final winning time of 4:47.08. That chopped nearly three seconds from her previous best of 4:49.76 set during prelims, and vaulted her to third in 13-and-under rankings. Only Olympic gold medalists Katie Ledecky (4:45.63) and Missy Franklin (4:46.67) have been faster at this age. Rongione's time this morning had put her fourth behind Becca Mann's 4:48.00 from 2011.<\/p>\n
Men's 500 free<\/b>
\nArizona's Matt Barber went out hard, but could not hold onto the lead as he faded to third with a 4:16.62. Texas' Michael McBroom (4:16.08) and USC's Cristian Quintero (4:16.56) used some more strategic races to push past Barber down the stretch for a 1-2 finish. Unfortunately, no one had the speed to beat the swift NCAA A cut of 4:15.89 to guarantee a spot at the pinnacle meet of the season. <\/p>\n
Trojan's Nikita Lobintsev (4:18.10), DSA's Clark Smith (4:18.38), Dynamo's Evan Pinion (4:19.78), USC's Nicholaus Johnson (4:26.42) and AGUA's Michael Domagala (4:28.06) also competed in the finale. Meanwhile, Texas' Clay Youngquist blitzed the B final with a sterling time of 4:17.57 that would have placed him just off the podium in the A final. <\/p>\n
Women's 200 IM<\/b>
\nCelina Li picked up some big-time scalps in this finale, surging past the field to win the finale in 1:55.28. USC's Stina Gardell placed second in 1:55.32, while Olympic superstar Missy Franklin picked up third in 1:55.88. Li moved to 23rd all time with the swim, just ahead of Franklin's lifetime best of 1:55.32. Gardell, meanwhile, has a 1:54.90 to her credit from last year's NCAA Championships. The time is an NCAA A cut for Gardell, while future California Golden Bears Li and Franklin have already proven they will easily qualify for the meet when they compete in the NCAA.<\/p>\n
USC's Jessica Schmitt (1:56.49), Meghan Hawthorne (1:56.60), Jasmine Tosky (1:56.67) and Andrea Kropp (1:57.30) finished fourth through seventh, while crosstown rival Anna Senko took eighth for UCLA with a 1:59.50. Longhorn's Karlee Bispo posted a swift 1:56.94 to win the B final, while Texas' Skylar Smith took home the C final win in 1:57.66. <\/p>\n
Men's 200 IM<\/b> A lil surprised on that swim from me tonight. Almost breaking American record. Ill take that. #timetoeat<\/a><\/p>\n — Ryan Lochte (@ryanlochte) November 30, 2012<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nOlympic superstar Ryan Lochte obliterated the field with a winning time of 1:40.97, nearly four seconds ahead of USC's Alex Lendrum's 1:44.24. Lochte's time is the sixth-fastest ever, giving four of the top six times under 1:41. His American record stands with a 1:40.08, while he's also been 1:40.55 and 1:40.89. Bradley Ally (1:40.49) and Michael Phelps (1:40.58) are the other members of the sub 1:41 club. Lendrum, meanwhile, came up a bit short of the incredibly fast NCAA A cut of 1:43.62, while Texas' Austin Surhoff checked in third with a 1:44.39. Bolles' Ryan Murphy (1:44.43), Tucson Ford's Austen Thompson (1:44.52) placed fourth and fifth. <\/p>\n\n