2016 NCSA SPRING JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
- March 15th-19th, 2016
- Short Course Yards Prelims/Long Course Meters Finals
- Prelims 8:30 AM Eastern Time/Finals 6:00PM Eastern Time (Except Tuesday, where they’re 4:00PM)
- Orlando YMCA // Orlando, Florida
- Live Stream
- Psych Sheets
- Championship Central
- Live Results via MeetMobile: “2016 NCSA Spring Championship”
*Tonight’s Finals are taking place in Long Course Meters after the Short Course Yard morning session.
Night 3 of the NCSA Spring Junior Nationals kicks off in Orlando tonight, with 4 event titles in each gender up for grabs.
Katie Drabot has a shot at three of those four, holding top seeds in the 400 IM and 50 fly while also sitting among the top contenders in the 200 free. On the boys’ side, Michael Andrew leads both the 50 fly and 50 breast.
Keep refreshing this page for live, event-by-event updates of all the action from Orlando.
Girls 200 Free – Finals
- Katie Drabot, Ozaukee – 1:59.32
- Paige Madden, City of Mobile – 1:59.82
- Genevieve Pfeifer, CSP Tideriders – 2:02.85
Katie Drabot started out as well as she could, winning the first of her three races with a 1:59.32 in the 200 free. That’s still about eight tenths off her lifetime-best, but was enough to grit out a win over top prelims swimmer Paige Madden. Madden, the 17-year-old from the City of Mobile Swim Team, went 1:59.82, her first time ever under two minutes.
Genevieve Pfeifer rolled into third place in 2:02.85 for the CSP Tideriders. Behind her, a great race for fourth: Cara Treble of Long Island narrowly edged out Xcel’s Riley Gaines 2:03.47 to 2:03.55.
We also saw some great swimming out of the B final. Morgan Hill of Nation’s Capital went 2:02.89, the fourth-fastest time overall, to take 9th place in the final standings.
Boys 200 Free – Finals
- Robert Freeman, Baylor – 1:51.16
- Samuel Pomajevich, NCAP – 1:51.80
- Samuel Steele, Birmingham Swim League – 1:51.92
Baylor’s Robert Freeman rose all the way from the 8th qualifier out of prelims to the NCSA Junior National Champion in finals to highlight a 200 free field that had some wild shuffling of the qualifying order.
Freeman went 1:51.16, just a tenth off his best time, to pick up the win. Just behind him, Nation’s Capital 17-year-old Samuel Pomajevich went 1:51.80 to destroy his previous best time of 1:54 and earn a new Olympic Trials cut.
Samuel Steele was third in 1:51.92, just three hundredths off the Olympic Trial cut. Behind them, Machine’s James Murphy touched out prelims winner Dean Farris of Metro Atlanta 1:52.25 to 1:52.29.
Girls 50 Breast – Finals
- Margaret Aroesty, Long Island – 31.79
- Ingrid Wall, New Trier – 32.01
- Halle Morris, North Bay – 32.31
Long Island Aquatic Club 16-year-old Margaret Aroesty followed up her great 100 breaststroke performances yesterday with a winning effort in the 50 breast tonight. Aroesty was 31.79 for that win, blowing out her previous best time by almost a full second.
She passed up top prelims swimmer Ingrid Wall out of New Trier. Wall went 32.01, with North Bay’s Halle Morris just behind in 32.31.
Things tightened up from there. Madeleine Vonderhaar topped Jacqueline Clabeaux 32.62 to 32.69 for fourth, with Ema Rajic‘s 32.73 just behind.
The third-fastest time of the night came out of the B heat, as Olivia Calegan went 32.24 to take 9th overall.
Boys 50 Breast – Finals
- Michael Andrew, Indie Swimming – 27.89
- Reece Whitley, Penn Charter – 28.28
- Jacob Montague, Grosse Point – 28.45
Michael Andrew won the first of his two races tonight, going 27.89 to win the 50 breaststroke.
The 16-year-old beat his age group peer Reece Whitley (28.28) for the title, with the duo reprising their finish order from the 100 breast last night.
Jacob Montague went 28.45 as the top three really separated from the field – they were the only swimmer under 29 seconds.
Tommy Cope of the Dayton Raiders was 29.01 for fourth, with Caleb Hicks (29.27) and Daniel Chang (29.33) following.
Girls 400 IM – Finals
- Margaret Aroesty, Long Island – 4:48.29
- Mikayla Herich, Northern Kentucky Clippers – 4:52.20
- Katie Drabot, Ozaukee – 4:52.56
It looked like Katie Drabot would be the female athlete looking for multiple titles tonight, but the first girl to double up on day 3 was Margaret Aroesty, who made it two in a row with a 4:48.29 in the 400 IM.
Also dropping significant time was Mikayla Herich of the Northern Kentucky Clippers. Herich cut five seconds off her previous best to go 4:52.20 for second place and a new Olympic Trials cut.
Drabot wound up third in 4:52.56, well off her lifetime-best of 4:47, suggesting that the 200 free earlier in the night may have taken its toll.
Halladay Kinsey finished fourth swimming unattached. the 15-year-old was 4:53.99.
The second-fastest time of the entire final came from the consolation heat, with Jaden Bellina of Pearland going 4:50.64 for a blowout heat win, a drop of more than four seconds and a new Olympic Trial cut.
Boys 400 IM – Finals
- Charles Swanson, NOVA – 4:19.93
- Frederick Schubert, NOVA – 4:26.31
- Nicholas Alexander, FAST – 4:28.13
In the morning, it was Frederick Schubert who came up with a big lifetime-best to win the battle of NOVA of Virginia teammates, but at night, Charles Swanson struck back with his own career-best time en route to a win.
Swanson went 4:19.93 to make his first career foray under 4:20 and take the NCSA title. Schubert was 4:26.31 for his part, just about a second off his lifetime-best. The current teammates will both head to different NCAA schools next year, with Swanson joining Michigan and Schubert Virginia.
Nicholas Alexander was the last man in the heat under 4:30, going 4:28.13 for third in a race that was pretty spread out at the top.
Machine’s Casey Storch was 4:30.76 for fourth, with Samuel Pomajevich of Nation’s Capital going 4:33.38 for fifth.
Girls 50 Fly – Finals
- Katie Drabot, Ozaukee – 27.12
- Kylie Jordan, NCAP – 27.41
- Jasmine Hellmer, NCAP – 27.55
Katie Drabot bounced back from a third-place finish in the 400 IM to return to the top of the podium in the 50 fly. Drabot was 27.12 to top the field by a good three tenths, taking home her second win of the night and third individual title of the meet.
Sweeping the next two spots behind her were teammates from Nation’s Capital. 18-year-old Kylie Jordan was 27.41, topping 16-year-old Jasmine Hellmer (27.55). Drabot’s own 16-year-old teammate Skyla Fore was fourth, going 27.57 to almost nip Hellmer for the spot.
Boys 50 Fly – Finals
- Michael Andrew, Indie Swimming – 23.92
- Camden Murphy, Kingfish – 24.42
- Dean Farris, Metro Atlanta – 24.63
Completing a trio of double-winners on the night was 16-year-old Michael Andrew, who won the 50 fly in 23.92 to complete a sweep of the 50-meter events for the day. Andrew’s time is still about three tenths off his lifetime-best, but topped the field by a full half second.
Camden Murphy was second in 24.42, continuing to chase Andrew’s times after the two traded a NAG record back and forth during the split Winter Junior National meets last December.
Metro Atlanta’s Dean Farris took third in 24.63, with Miles Smachlo (24.80) and John Mahoney (24.85) joining him under 25 seconds.
It will be interesting to see how the MA experiment turns out. As a pro he must earn his meal ticket every time out and that has to be a lot of pressure on a 16 year old. It is basically Olympic gold or bust (or possibly both) as he will have no real education or social network to fall back on. Basically he is the swimming version of an AAU basketball nomad without the upside of either a free education or a NBA pay day.
I think we should all witness the greatness that is seeping out of Dean Farris, slowly but surely….
NOVA doesn’t have access to a long course pool so Swanson likely hasn’t done any LCM training this season. Quite an impressive swim!
Head Coach Jeff Brown has done an outstanding Job with NOVA. I remember way back 1988 NOVA was a small club team from Richmond, VA with success at B/C champs. 28 years later several national level qualifiers, several national champions, millions of dollars in swimming scholarships, national championships, and having fun.
Thinker I agree with you. 4:19 400im is truly impressive. That is an elite time. Lets see what he does at trials. Could he final in the 4im?
Most impressed with Bellina’s 5 second drop in the IM. Definitely a swimmer to watch.
I hope Andrew doesn’t focus too much on these 50s in the future.
Still a very good 27.89 on breaststroke.
Sadly he still is…
Anyone have an idea about what MA can go in the 50 fly??
I would care if he were still 12, but come on man. Who really cares about a 50 fly time? Step up and swim an Olympic distance.
Like the 50 free?
Yes, the 50FR is an Olympic event and would be fine. Passing up the 200FR/400IM, both of which he holds the NAGs in for 13-14, tells me the conditioning just isn’t there and the only time you’ll see him venture out to a 200 in LCM is in the IM where he drops off considerably on the back half. I wouldn’t go so far as to say you can’t have a strong 200/400 with USRPT, but look at his swims since he’s been in the 15-16 age group and you’ll see a great first 50 and a mediocre second 50 compared to swimmers at his level.
And HSWIMMER….is there some big taper with USRPT that we should expect? I thought… Read more »
Amen!!! Irish Ringer
Andrew AGAIN proves the doubters , just broke 28 for the first time with a 27.89 . Great swim !
His front half speed is faster but he’s still .50 off his best time in the 100 achieved last July. Maybe he’ll bring the 100 down a bit this summer.
a bit? its absolutely possible he’ll swim something like 59.6 and i’m certain he will