YMCA of the Triangle’s Olivia Ontjes broke her own YMCA National record in the 50 breast to highlight Wednesday prelims YMCA Nationals.
Ontjes went 32.62 in Indianapolis, rolling away with the top seed and breaking her mark of 32.76 set last year. Ontjes was the only swimmer in the field under 33 seconds and should be in excellent shape to claim the national title tonight for YOTA, not to mention take a few more tenths off her record.
The boys 50 breast also saw a record under assault, although this one survived the prelims. Somerset Valley’s Zack Warner went 28.58 for the top seed, shaking but not breaking the 28.53 mark set by Conner McHugh a year ago. McHugh, a Door County (WI) swimmer headed to the Minnesota Gophers next fall, is the second seed, as he went 28.77 and will try to defend his record swim tonight.
15-year-old Camryn Forbes is the top seed in the girls 100 back, which will lead things off tonight. Forbes went 1:03.40 for Butler of Pennsylvania, but will have her hands full tonight with York’s Kacey Oberlander (1:03.72) and Countryside’s Emily Slabe (1:03.88).
The boys race is set up to be even closer, with Tristan Sanders (57.31) and Sean Workman (57.47) seeded closely in the top two spots. Sanders swims for Sun Coast out of Florida, while Workman swims from Edwardsville in Illinois.
Both 400 IMs have the top two seeded within a few tenths, a bit of a rarity in such a long race. The girls race is headed by Maddy Thomas of York (4:57.83) and Verity Abel out of Wilton Y (4:57.87), seeded just .04 apart. For the boys, .35 separates Mark Andrew (4:29.26) from Maxwell Dolan (4:29.61).
In the girls 200 free, Alisabeth Marsteller leads in 2:03.58. Marsteller swims for Countryside in Ohio and is part of Princeton’s big incoming recruiting class this coming fall. She’ll have to hold off another incoming freshman, Caitlynn Moon, tonight. Moon swims for Kishwaukee and is set to join Texas A&M in the fall. She also set a national record in the 800 on the first night of Y Nats.
Marsteller’s Countryside teammate Grant House is on top of the boys 200, setting up a potential Countryside sweep. But his 1:53.58 is just a sliver ahead of Ocean County’s Zachary Molloy (1:53.66), and YOTA’s Colin Ellington is the third seed, fresh off breaking a National Age Group record on a relay last night.
Molloy anchored the Ocean County relay that sits atop preliminary results. In the 400 medley, Ocean County went 3:52.79 with the team of Matthew Kazanowsky, Jacob Limaldi, Ben Smith and Molloy, who was a quick 50.8 on the freesyle anchor leg.
The girls relay is led by YMCA of the Triangle, who won both relays last night. Ontjes returned to man the freestyle leg, going 57.4, the fastest of any prelims relay. She’s joined by Kelsey Lawton, Claire Williams and Haley Bishop, as the foursome went 4:22.13.