LOS ANGELES, California, July 18. THE stars were definitely out in numbers at the Los Angeles Invite this evening, with Missy Franklin shining the brightest with a stellar double victory.
Franklin almost moved into the top 20 in the world in the women’s 100-meter freestyle with a 54.52. Australia’s Yolane Kukla, who stands 19th in the world with a 54.30 from the Australian Age Championships, took second in 54.80. Tucson Ford’s Margo Geer joined them under 55 with a third-place 54.91.
The rest of the women’s 100 free A final was stacked. Stanford’s Andi Murez (55.10), California’s Natalie Coughlin (55.36), Stanford’s Maddy Schaefer (55.47), Canyon’s Abbey Weitzeil (55.61) and Trojan’s Jessica Hardy (56.24) also competed in the finale.
Franklin doubled up with a 2:10.21 to win the women’s 200-meter back. That’s less than a second off her 11th-ranked season best of 2:09.57 from the Mel Zajac Canada Cup earlier this year. Mikkayla Sheridan placed second in 2:11.60 with Franklin’s training partner Elizabeth Pelton taking third in 2:12.57.
The men’s 100-meter freestyle proved to be pretty star-studded as well. Nathan Adrian smashed the field in 48.32, just off his third-ranked season best of 48.08 from the Barcelona stop of the Mare Nostrum. Trojan’s Cristian Quintero (49.35) and Alexander Sukhorukov (49.57) took second and third. Adrian’s runningmate Anthony Ervin took fourth in 49.98. Notably, Matt Grevers won the B final in 51.08.
Ryan Murphy clipped Cal teammate Jacob Pebley, 1:57.73 to 1:57.86, for the men’s 200-meter backstroke title. Both have been a bit faster this year with Murphy ranking 13th with a 1:57.29 and Pebley tying for 16th with a 1:57.50. Ashley Delaney of Australia finished third in 1:58.06.
Cal’s Caitlin Leverenz won the women’s 200-meter fly in 2:12.67 with Bruin Katie Kinnear touched second in 2:13.36. Trojan’s Jasmine Tosky picked up third in 2:13.71. Leverenz then led a 1-2 in the women’s 400-meter IM with a 4:41.22. Celina Li earned second in 4:42.61, while Ella Eastin claimed third in 4:47.39.
Tom Shields turned in a 1:58.04 to win the men’s 200-meter fly. Aquazot Corey Okubo earned second in 1:58.73 with Adam Hinshaw finishing third in 2:01.60. Mads Glaesner picked up the men’s 400-meter freestyle title in 3:51.33 with Australia’s Jack McLoughlin placing second in 3:52.06. Trojan’s Cristian Quintero earned third in 3:52.44.
Trojan’s Haley Anderson put up an 8:37.96 to win the women’s 800-meter freestyle in a close contest against Aussie rival Katie Goldman. Goldman, meanwhile, took home a close second in 8:38.27 with PASA’s Katie Campbell placing third in the distance event in 8:41.53.
Full results on Meet Mobile.