Swimcloud

Tennessee's Johnson Wins 50 Free at USA Winter Nationals

Tennessee

Faith Johnson claimed first place in the 50-yard freestyle A final at the AT&T USA Winter Nationals in Greensboro. Her time of 22.12 earned her the victory over UCLA’s Linnea Mack by .03 seconds. Johnson shaved .05 seconds off her third-fastest preliminary time during the Thursday morning session.

The only UT participant to compete in Greensboro, N.C., thus far, Johnson earned her first title at Nationals by defeating some of the top sprinters in the country. Along with Mack, Louisville’s Kelsi Worrell finished in third (22.49) after swimming the fastest qualifying time in the field (22.02).

Almost a month ago, when the Orange and White defeated the Cardinals in Knoxville, Johnson (22.73) also defeated Worrell (22.80) in the 50 free, winning the race by .07 seconds.

 

Louisville

The University of Louisville swimmers posted another win as well as putting a Cardinal in at least one final heat in the second day of finals at USA Swimming’s AT&T Winter National Championships Thursday night at the Greensboro (N.C.) Aquatic Center. The meet is playing host to 500-plus swimmers from Olympians to age-group competitors.
 
In the men’s 500-freestyle, Trevor Carroll was fifth in the A-final with a 4:18.73 in the event that was won by Olympia Connor Jaeger’s first place time of 4:13.72.
 
In the women’s 500-freestyle, Andrea Kneppers posted a 4:46.44 for sixth place in the C-final.
 
In the 200-IM, Erica Belcher finished fifth in the B-final with a 1:59.75 and Andrea Cottrell was fourth in the C-final with a 2:00.70.
 
The men put two Cardinals and a Cardinal alum in the A-final of the men’s 200-IM. Nolan Tesone was third in 1:44.95.  Josh Quallen was fifth in 1:45.48.  Carlos Almeida was seventh in 1:46.05.  In the B-final, Carlos Claverie was fourth with a time of 1:47.79.  In the C-final, David Boland was fifth, posting a 1:49.38 and Christian Garkani was seventh in 1:49.64.
 
Kelsi Worrell was third in the A-final of the 50-freestyle with a 22.49, just .37 behind the winning time. Thomas Dahlia was third in the C-final when he boarded a 19.88.
 
In the 400-medley relay, the Cards touched second, just .44 off the lead with a 3:34.35 posted by Hannah Magnuson (54.19), Andrea Cottrell (59.56), Kelsi Worrell (51.11) and Andrea Kneppers (49.49).
 
The Louisville men showed their depth with a 1-2 finish in the men’s 400-medley relay.  Grigory Tarasevich (46.19), Thomas Dahlia (52.42), Pedro Coutinho (46.70) and Caryle Blondell (43.21) combined for a 3:08.52.  The other Cardinal relay team of Aaron Greene (47.51), Addison Bray (52.60), Aaron Young (52.60) and Matthias Lindenbauer (43.16) combined for a 3:09.55.

 

N.C. State

The NC State swimming and diving team completed its first day of competition at the AT&T Winter National Championships Thursday in Greensboro, N.C., inside the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
 
Freestyle Watch
Freestyle sprint specialist Simonas Bilis placed second in the 50 free, swimming a time of 19.18 and recording the Woflpack’s first NCAA ‘A’ standard mark of the season.
 
Lauren Poli, Ashlyn Koletic and Natalie Labonge all advanced to the ‘A’ final heat in the women’s 50 free, finishing sixth, seventh and eighth of 81 swimmers that competed in the event. Poli swam a time of 22.67, while Koletic finished with a time of 22.71 and Labonge with a time of 22.82.
 
Individual Medleys
Soeren Dahl and Colin Ellington grabbed first and second place in the ‘B’ final heat of the 200 IM, shaving almost three seconds off of their previous times. Dahl recorded a time of 1:46.66 while Ellington touched the wall at 1:46.70.
 
Wolfpack Improvement
Eight swimmers recorded top times for the 2014-15 season on the Wolfpack’s first day of competition at the Winter National Championships. The ‘Wolfpack Top Times’ consists of the top five times in a given season for each individual event, and the top three times in relay events.          
 
200 IM
Soeren Dahl, 1:46.66
Colin Ellington, 1:46.70
50 free
Simonas Bilis, 19.28
Ryan Held, 19.97
David Williams, 20.00
Ashlyn Koletic, 22.65
Lauren Poli, 22.67
Natalie Labonge, 22.73
 
Postseason Focus
In addition to the Pack's first day performance, NC State recorded four more NCAA ‘B’ standard marks at the Winter National Championships. 
 
Natalie Labonge, 50 free, 22.73
Soeren Dahl, 200 IM, 1:47.14
Colin Ellington, 200 IM, 1:47.94
Ryan Held, 50 free, 19,97

 

Pittsburgh

The full first day of the AT&T Winter Nationals came to a close on Thursday night at Greensboro Aquatics Complex with both of Pitt's men's and women's 400 medley relay teams making a splash in the pool.

Pitt's four-man relay team, consisting of junior Mack Rice, senior Luke Nosbisch, senior Kourosh Ahani and junior David Sweeney, all earned medals for their seventh place performance in the 400 medley relay, posting a season best time of 3:16.05. The field was made up of 20 teams.

The women were a respectable 12th in the 400 medley relay out of 25 teams and recorded a season best time of 3:41.57.  Pitt's four swimmers that made up the relay team were junior Blair Wegescheide, sophomore Kinga Cichowska, junior Mackenzie Meixner and senior Dani des Tombe.

"It was a nice evening of competition," said head coach Chuck Knoles. "Our men's 400 medley relay finished in seventh place. That's a nice finish for the men, who had their fastest time in more than two years. The women's 400 medley relay finished 12th. Being able to finish in the top 16 in the country is a great performance by those four ladies."

Junior Danyel Johnson was the only Pitt individual to qualify for one of the finals on the first full day of competition, earning a spot in Final C after posting the 22nd fastest time of the morning prelim of 23.11 seconds, which is a season best by any Panthers swimmer this year. Eventually Johnson finished seventh in Final C with a time of 23.15 seconds.

"Danyel Johnson was able to go under her lifetime best for the second time in one day, which was nice to see and very encouraging."

A handful of Pitt swimmers narrowly missed out on grabbing a spot in Thursday night's finals across the board.

In the women's 500 free, junior Kaleigh Ritter's time of 4:47.70 was a mere 0.30 seconds away from taking a spot in the finals, but she had to settle for being the second alternate. Competing in her first Winter Nationals, freshman Amanda Richey wasn't too far behind, finishing in 31st with a time of 4:48.46.

Sophomore Zach Lierly found himself in a similar situation to Ritter, missing the finals of the 200 IM by three spots, or 0.08 seconds, after he placed 27th with a time of 1:49.27.

In addition to Johnson's performance in the 50 free, Pitt nearly had two more swimmers qualify for the finals from each the men and women. Junior Sean Heiden had his fastest time of the season of 20.19 seconds, but wound up in 31st, while freshman Emily Murphy was 32nd in 23.26 seconds.

Junior Martin Vogel also had the best 500 free swim of the season by a Pitt swimmer with his 4:27.07 showing.

On the opening night of competition last night, the Pitt men posted two more top-10 finishes in relay races, taking seventh in the 800 free relay and ninth in the 200 medley relay. The 800 relay team (6:35.32) included Vogel, senior Jon Lierley, senior Joey Notarianni and Sweeney, while the 200 medley (1:29.83) group was Rice, Nosbisch, Ahani and Heiden.

The women, meanwhile, were 11th in the 200 medley relay and 13th in the 800 free relay.

 

Delaware

On a day that saw six Blue Hens compete in four events, Morgan Whyte’s performance stood out as the only University of Delaware swimmer to qualify for the finals of an event Thursday at the 2014 AT&T Winter National Championships.

Whyte qualified for the 50 freestyle finals with a season-best time of 22.98 in her heat. Whyte holds the UD record in the event with a time of 22.70 at last year’s Colonial Athletic Association Championship, and her performance in Thursday’s heat represents the second fastest time in Blue Hen history. 

In Thursday night’s finals, Whyte put forth another strong performance as the junior swam the 50 freestyle in 22.99,  good for the 16th fastest time in the finals.

The other UD women’s swimmer that competed Friday was Annie Nunes. The sophomore swam in the 200 individual medley event and recorded a time of 2:05.29, which was a career-best for Nunes and the fifth-best time in program history.

On the men’s side, the 200 IM event saw three Blue Hens compete as Alex Tooley registered a 52nd place finish with a time of 1:51.21. His time is a season-best and the third fastest time in Delaware history.

Patrick Savidge finished the 200 IM race with a season-best time of 1:55.71, which earned him a 97th place finish. Alex Hillsley posted a 101st place finish with a time of 1:58.26.

The sixth Blue Hen to race Thursday was Cory Camp, who tallied a 75th place finish in the 500 freestyle event with a time of 4:40.48. Camp’s time was the sophomore’s third fastest time in the 500 freestyle this season.

 

Air Force

Air Force freshman Maria Schroeder set a new school record in the 100 butterfly with a time of 54.57 at the USA Swimming National Championships in Greensboro, N.C. Schroeder’s time came in the morning session as she placed 25th in heat. Sophomore Genevieve Miller placed in 18th in the finals of the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:44.41.

A school-record eight Falcons qualified to compete in the three-day event, which continues through Saturday. Joining Schroeder and Miller, senior Kim Davis, junior Sara Menke, sophomore Kira Schlosberg and freshmen Jinan Andrews, Elise Hart and Brianna Mount  are representing the Academy at the prestigious event.

 

Western Kentucky

In day one of the AT&T Winter Nationals, WKU swimming had two student-athletes make it to the night’s finals, securing top 30 finishes in the 200 IM.
 
Nadine Laemmler took fourth in the 200 IM’s B final for 12th overall, hitting the wall in a NCAA B-cut time of 1:59.58. Laemmler finished 10th in the prelims with a time of 2:00.15.
 
Allie Duff recorded an eighth-place time of 2:02.62 in the C final of the event, finishing 24th overall. Duff had a three-way tie for 18th in the morning’s 200 IM prelims, as she along with Michigan’s Marni Oldershaw and UCLA’s Noelle Tarazona stopped the clock in 2:00.60 to make it to the finals.
 
In the men’s 200 IM, Fabian Schwingenschlogl just missed the finals after finishing 36th with a time of 1:49.97.

 

Queens

Queens University of Charlotte swim team completed day two of the AT&T Winter National Championship on Saturday, December 4, 2014, topping Division II institutions and grabbing national times.
 
On the first day competition, the men’s quartet of Matthew Josa, Nick Arakelian, Benjamin Taylor, and Hayden Kosater, respectfully, grabbed a sixth overall finish in the 4x200 Yard Freestyle with a time of 6:35.08. Their finish was the top time of a Division II institution at the meet and a second nationally in Division II.
 
Earlier in the day, Queens took a 13th place finish in the 4X50 Medley Relay, again arriving to the wall first for Division II schools. Josa, Nicolas Eriksson, Evante Gibson, and Kosater clocked a 1:30.93 time with a first place finish in their heat.
 
Completing day two, Josa landed the Royals first individual placement with an 8th place finish in the 200 Yard Individual Medley earning a 1:48.07 finish. With his time, he not only grabbed a NCAA ‘A’ Standard time but took top nationally by over two seconds.
 
Caroline Arakelian took seventh place in Heat C for the 200 Yard Individual Medley with a 2:01.52 for the Royals after touching with a 2:00.54 in the prelims for the top time nationally in Division II and a NCAA ‘A’ Standard time.
 
The men finished the day with an 11th place finish in the 4x100 Yard Medley Relay with Zack Phelps, Eriksson, Josa, and Kosater touching with a 3:17.52 finish and Nicholas Arakelian ranking 41st in the 500 Yard Free Style with a time of 4:20.20.

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