AUSTIN, Texas, March 6. THE Texas-Exs had a strong night at the American Short Course Championships with Laura Sogar owning one of the better swims of the night.
Canyon’s Abbey Weitzeil, Tamara Santoyo, Mik Ranslem and Sophie Fiscella raced their way to the first title of the night with a 1:33.44 in the women’s 200-yard free relay. The Dolphins’ Brie Balsbough, Carmen Mand, Jordan Ashmore and Sierra Sexton hit the wall second in 1:35.21, while Trinity Prep’s Brooke Malone, Claire Maiocco, Allie Parent and Caroline White took third in 1:35.66.
Texas A&M’s Cory Belleter, Kyle Troskot, Or Sabatier and Paul-Marc Schweitzer topped the men’s 200-yard free relay in 1:18.49, just edging their Texas rivals as the Longhorn’s quad of Charlie Moore, John Murray, Matt Ellis and Bobby Button posted a 1:18.64 for second. SMU’s Ziga Cerkovnik, Nicolai Hansen, Ramom Melo and Ryan Koops rounded out the top three in 1:19.87.
Jenna Bauer kicked off the individual events with a 4:50.53 to win the 500-yard free with Namilla Sanchez posting a second-place time of 4:55.90. Ally Schultz rounded out the top three in 4:57.01. Eegan Groome followed in the men’s 500-yard free with a 4:20.35 for the victory. Jason O’Brien claimed second in 4:21.41 with Brad Gonzales touching in 4:26.34.
Laura Sogar, one of the highest profile swimmers in attendance, popped a 1:58.47 to win the women’s 200-yard IM. That’s her third best event after the 100 and 200-yard breaststrokes, and her time this evening is the fourth best she’s ever posted at the meet. She’s been a lifetime best 1:57.96 in 2010 at the UT Invitational. Abby Duncan took a distant second in 2:00.81, while Kenisha Liu claimed third in 2:01.85. Another Texas-Ex, Austin Surhoff, picked up the men’s 200-yard IM victory in 1:46.90. Grant Rogers (1:47.81) and Ian Lemaistre (1:49.18) rounded out the top three in the finale.
Sarah Bateman cranked out a 22.12 to clip Abbey Weitzeil in the women’s 50-yard free finale with Weitzeil taking second in 22.16 in the sprint event. Tamara Santoyo placed third in 22.94. Bateman’s been a bit faster with a 21.89 lifetime best from 2012 NCAAs, while Weitzeil’s time is just off her best of 22.02 from 2013 Speedo Winter Junior Nationals.
A pair of swimmers just missed NCAA A cuts for Texas A&M in the men’s 50-yard free. Kyle Troskot clocked a 19.32 in prelims before taking fourth with a 19.83 in the finale. Cory Bolleter posted a 19.38 in the finale for the win. Logan Mosley (19.68) and Ramom Melo (19.77) comprised the rest of the podium.
Canyon’s Mik Ranslem, Courtney Chrzas, Tamara Santoyo and Abbey Weitzeil claimed the 400-yard medley relay title in 3:43.47 with Weitzeil clocking a 47.75 on the anchor leg. Trinity Prep’s Allie Parent, Brooke Malone, Claire Maiocco and Caroline White placed second in 3:46.62 with Miami’s Laine Morgan, Annie Valls, Alexa Kalandiak and Kyla Valls finished third in 3:50.49.
SMU’s Matas Andriekus, Nicolai Hansen, Ziga Cerkovnik and Ryan Koops took down the men’s 400-yard medley relay title with a 3:16.10. Canyons’ Jessie Kim, Kevin Dai, Austin Barreiro and Cole Cogswell finished second in 3:23.08 with Golden West’s Thomas gillespie, Wade Nelson, Bradley Toland and Nate Torres clinching third in 3:27.88.
Results For: American Short Course Championships: Day One