By David Rieder
TEMPE, Arizona, May 29. THE Arizona Invitational continued tonight with some of the top swimmers in the world in the midst in more long course meters races. Among the top competitors include athletes from the University of Arizona in Tucson and SwimMAC Carolina in Charlotte, NC. Four "Super Finals" of four swimmers competing for prize money took place on this third of four nights of competition.
Tucson Ford's Alyssa Anderson won the women's 200 free super final in 2:05.58, just edging Sun Devil's Kat Simonovic at the finish. Simonovic clocked 2:05.78, while Tucson Ford's Leone Vorster (2:05.93) and Sun Devil's Shannon Landgrebe (2:05.96) rounded out a tight super final. Tucson Ford's Darian Townsend defeated teammate Adam Ritter in the men's 200 free super final. Townsend, a South African Olympic gold medalist in the 400 free relay in 2004, put up a time of 1:50.46, to Ritter's 1:51.51. SwimMAC's Eugene Godsoe earned third (1:54.58), while Fort Collins' Josh Ginsborg ended up fourth (1:56.04).
Phoenix Swim Club's Noriko Inada took the win in the women's 100 back super final. Inada, a three-time Japanese Olympian in 1992, 2000, and 2004, had earlier in the weekend won the 100 back at the United Healthcare in nearby Scottsdale, clocking 1:03.63.
Inada's Cactus Classic 100 Back Win
Tonight, Inada improved to 1:01.61, which moved her to the world top-50. Tucson Ford finished 2-3 with Maggie Meyer (1:03.52) and Vorster (1:06.42). Sun Devil's Clara Jenk also swam in the super final but was disqualified. On the men's side, SwimMAC's Nick Thoman won in 54.71, well off seventh-ranked 53.93 from March. Teammate Godsoe grabbed second in 55.96, while Townsend (56.15), and Nick Brunelli (56.92), another SwimMAC swimmer, rounded out the heat.
Sun Devil's Leticia Lelli won the women's 100 fly in 1:02.71, while Tucson Ford's Alyssa Anderson edged Gmsc's Bri Jurries, 1:04.17 to 1:04.27, for second place. Nashville's Maclin Davis beat Japanese Olympian Masayuki Kishida in the men's 100 fly. Davis hit the wall in 54.89, almost a second ahead of Tucson Ford's Kishida, who checked in at 55.87. Kishida's teammate Kevin Munsch earned third in 57.54.
Wild West's Sam Harding won the women's 400 IM in 5:04.77, while Tucson Ford's Lindsay Seeman edged Nashville's Mitchell Chintanaphol for second, 5:07.81 to 5:08.22. Meanwhile Tucson Ford's Austen Thompson held off Nashville's Taylor Charles in the men's 400 IM. Thompson clocked 4:38.92, while Charles came in at 4:39.74. Thompson's teammate Sam Rowan grabbed third in 4:43.60.
Sun Devil swept the 400 medley relays as Lelli, Rebecca Ejdervik, Lauren Torres, and Tinsley Andrews won the women's race in 4:28.47, while their male teammates Alex Brouwer, Andrew Marciniak, Ryan Dignan, and Ben Brouwer took the win in 4:13.66.
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