Meghan Small Clocks 3rd-Fastest 15-16 200y Backstroke of All Time on Night 2 of YMCA Nationals

The second night of finals at the 2015 YMCA National Short Course Championships did not disappoint, as several up and coming stars continued to break records and take names at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

Meet Results

200 Back

The women’s 200 backstroke final saw all eight swimmers dip beneath the 2:00 threshold, led by a phenomenal swim by York’s Meghan Small.  Her 1:51.74 not only took back her Y Nationals record broken by Ali Galyer in the morning prelims (1:53.91), but it ranks Small as the third-fastest 15-16 women’s performance of all time in the event only behind Kylie Stewart and Elizabeth Pelton.  Tonight, Galyer settled for second place in a time of 1:53.76, which also dipped beneath her record from prelims, for the eleventh-fastest of all time in the same age group. Waynesboro’s Remedy Rule came in third place tonight with a sold 1:54.53, knocking about a half a second off of her third-seeded prelims swim.

The men’s A-Final saw Sarasota’s Austin Katz hold on to the top spot from prelims to finals, as the 16-year-old took the 200 back title in a time of 1:43.70.  This is the first time Katz has touched beneath the 1:44 threshold, signaling he is certainly on the right track in his training.  Edwardsville’s Sean Workman retained his runner-up status from this morning, touching behind Katz in a quick 1:44.12, which is Workman’s career-fastest time by over a second. Third place belonged to Matthew Garcia tonight, as he finished in 1:45.67.

200 Breaststroke

The first and second seeds from this morning held their ground in tonight’s 200 breaststroke final, as newly crowned Y Nationals record holder Savanna Faulconer threw down another stellar time, 2:11.08, for the win.  Although this was a couple of tenths slower than her 2:10.79 prelims outing, Faulconer now owns the 10th and 13th-fastest performances of all time for the 15-16 age group.  Middle Tyger’s Jessica Horomanski was the second-place breaststroker tonight, although she added about a half a second ot her prelims time – 2:14.18 in prelims and 2:14.91 for finals.  Somerset Valley’s Megan Bull moved up two spots from her AM swim, clocking a nice 2:15.12 to earn her third place tonight.

Paul DeLakis was able to blast his way to a fresh new personal best in the men’s race, charging to the wall first in a time of 1:58.58, signaling the first performance for DeLakis to dip under 2:00.  Ocean County’s Jacob Limaldi was also able to nail a sub-2:00 time, touching in 1:59.25 for second place, although he has been in the 1:59 range a couple of times in 2014.  Brayden Lauffer from Triangle Area dropped one spot to finish in third tonight with a time of 2:01.94.

100 butterfly

Remedy Rule took tonight’s 100 butterfly race in a season-best time of 52.94.  She was followed by 17-year-old Middle Tyger Katrina Konopka who touched in 53.13 and saw a nice time drop of about three tenths from her prelim time.  Bath Area’s Caitlin Tycz rounded out the top three in the event, finishing in a speed 53.77 blowing her previous personal best of 54.39 out of the water.

18-year-old Zachary Piedt maintained the pole position from morning to night, as he touched the wall first tonight in a time of 47.76 for the win.  Somerset Hills’ Sebastian Lutz finished just behind Piedt, separated only by 5/100 in his clocking of 47.81.  Brent Benedict moved up from his fifth seeded time from prelims to wind up third, registering a 48.00 for his efforts.

200 freestyle relay

The Middle Tyger foursome of Ali Galyer (23.46), Sydney Baker (23.86), Jessi Snover (23.33) and Katrina Konopka (21.82) combined to take the 200 free relay in an impressive 1:32.47.  In the tightest of margins, York’s Courtney Harnish (23.23), Emily Ilgenfritz (23.38), Becca Luft (23.66) and Meghan Small (22.21) touched just 1/100 later, clocking a time of 1:32.48 for second place.  Triangle Area’s relay came in third tonight in a time of 1:32.72.

The men’s edition of the 200 free relay was just as intense, with less than a second separating the top four teams. Somerset Hills’ combination of Jamie Finnegan (20.77), Sebastian Lutz (19.74), Jackson Crewe (21.33) and David Hua (20.37) clocked a 1:22.21 for the win.  Second place belonged to Triangle Area’s squad of Alex Carson (21.01), Chris Kohut (20.86), Tom Gordon (20.71) and Seth Maslowski (20.12) who finished in a time of 1:22.70. Countryside touched in third in a time of 1:22.79, with Cheshire coming in fourth in a time of 1:22.90 tonight.