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The penultimate day of preliminaries at the 2019 Speedo Junior Nationals in Palo Alto, California had six total events with the 200 free, 200 breast and 100 back.
Justina Kozan is the top seed in the 200 free as she was recently named to the World Juniors roster that will compete in Budapest at the end of the month. Kozan is seeded ahead of Miranda Heckman, who will be swimming at the University of Texas in a few short weeks.
Jack Walker holds the top two seed in the men’s 200 free, following a successful weeks in Palo Alto.
Lakeside’s Claire Donan is the top seed in the 200 breast as she is seeded a second ahead of Chase Davison and Brynn Curtis. On the men’s side, Maxwell Reich is the top seed with Dylan Rhee sitting behind him in second place.
Alexandra Crisera and Tim Connery are the top seeds in the 100 back that will close out the morning sessions this morning.
Women’s 200 Freestyle
Olympic Trials Cut: 2:01.69
15-year-old Justina Kozan of BREA Aquatics maintained her top seed cruising in at 2:01.51. She was only swimmer under the Olympic Trials standard in the preliminaries. PLS’ Miranda Heckman posted a solid morning swim of 2:01.73 for second followed closely by NOVA’s Ella Ristic in 2:01.86.
LAC’s Riley Francis (2:01.89) and Ella Bathurst (2:01.92) also dipped under the 2:02 mark, with both women going personal best times. Cora Dupree led the remaining swimmers into the A final finishing in sixth with a 2:02.16. TG’s Riley Parker (2:02.23) and TIDE’s Kayla Wilson (2:02.28) also made the top eight.
Men’s 200 Freestyle
Olympic Trials Cut: 1:50.79
SwimMAC’s Jack Walker kept up his winning momentum from day three to take the top seed in the men’s 200 freestyle. He posted a 1:50.61 to lead the field.
Hunter Ingram led five swimmers at 1:51 coming in at 1:51.70. He was followed closely by Luke Maurer (1:51.89), Ben Forbes (1:51.90), Hugh Svendsen (1:51.93) and Colby Mefford (1:51.96). The men were right on their entry times into the meet have set themselves up for battle in tonight’s final.
Also competing in the heat will be LEXD’s Zach Hils (1:52.23) and LAC’s Donald Scott (1:52.31).
Women’s 200 Breaststroke
Olympic Trials Cut: 2:33.29
15-year-old Abigail Herscu swam a lifetime best 200 breaststroke to to earn top honors in the preliminaries. She was the lone swimmer under the Olympic Trials mark this time around. Emma Weber, also at 15 years old, raced to a new best time for second in 2:33.36. YSSC’s Annika McEnroe was third in 2:33.50.
SwimMAC’s Grace Rainey (2:34.35) and AGUA’s Sophia Zhang (2:34.37) took the fourth and fifth positions, respectively. YORK’s Brynn Curtis (2:34.60), SEA’s Katie McClintock (2:34.71) and SA’s Gigi Johnson (2:34.78) took sixth through eighth.
Men’s 200 Breaststroke
Olympic Trials Cut: 2:17.89
PHX’s Maxwell Reich maintained the 200 breaststroke top seed, cruising in for an overall time of 2:14.97. AGUA’s Dylan Rhee was second in 2:15.37 as both men were slightly off their performances from last week’s Phillips 66 National Championships.
The top eight finishers all came in under the 2020 Olympic Trials standard. Brandon Stride was third in 2:16.70 and was followed by Ben Dillard (2:16.92) and Hayden Zheng (2:17.16). Liam bell took the sixth spot in 2:17.42, with Cameron Luarde (2:18.85) and Will Goodwin (2:18.93) in seventh and eighth.
Women’s 100 Backstroke
Olympic Trials Cut: 1:02.69
Dynamo’s 14-year-old Rye Ulett took control of the women’s 100 backstroke with a quick 1:01.41. The swim is just tenths off her 1:01.0 from the Phillips 66 National Championships. Her teammates Tristen Ulett took third in 1:01.73. CITI’s Alexandra Crisera ran away with her heat, touching second overall in 1:01.47.
This event saw another full eight swimmers qualify for the 2020 Olympic Trials. YWSF’s Kennedy Noble was fourth in 1:01.89. Taking fifth through eighth were Abby Kapeller (1:02.35), Grace Wey (1:02.45), Abby Karl (1:02.52) and Reilly Tiltmann (1:02.67).
Men’s 100 Backstroke
Olympic Trials Cut: 56.59
CCS’ Hunter Armstrong dominated the field in the men’s 100 backstroke with a new personal best time of 55.14. The swim bumps him to twentieth in the all-time 17-18 age group rankings. Teammate Chris O’Connor also recorded a new best time, coming in second at 55.39. The time ranks him twenty-seventh all time.
MCC’s Jake Marcum dropped half a second for third in 56.22. Collin Schuster (56.40), Ian Grum (56.43) and Tim Connery (56.59) all dipped under the Olympic Trials cut as well. They will be joined by Luke Barr (56.63) and Cade Oliver (57.02) in the championship final.
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