By David Rieder
TEMPE, Arizona, May 30. THE four-day Arizona Invitational wrapped up today in Tempe on the campus of Arizona State University. This last session featured one more "Super Final," consisting of four swimmers battling for prize money. Earlier in the meet, super finals had been held in the 50 free, 200 free, and 100 back, and tonight, four swimmers went at it in the 200 IM.
Tucson Ford's Darian Townsend starred with wins in the 200 IM super final and also the 100 free. Townsend, a South African Olympic champ in the 400 free relay from 2004, posted a 2:02.73 in the men's 200 IM super final to come up well short of his seventh-ranked 1:59.06 from last month. SwimMAC's Nick Brunelli edged Nashville's Dakota Hodgson for second place, 2:07.45 to 2:07.72. Fort Collins' Alex Tooley took fourth in 2:11.52. Townsend later broke 50 seconds to win the men's 100 free in 49.89. SwimMAC teammates Eugene Godsoe (50.66) and Nick Brunelli (51.24) grabbed second and third, respectively.
Sun Devil's Leticia Lelli also doubled with wins in the same events as Townsend. Lelli won the women's 200 IM super final in 2:23.66, followed closely by Nashville's Anna Grainger, who took second in 2:24.81. Grainger's Nashville teammates Mitchell Chintanaphol (2:26.76) and Taylor Melton (2:31.62) completed the super final. Lelli returned to edge Gmsc's Kelli Benjamin in the women's 100 free, 57.78 to 57.96. Lelli's teammate Shannon Landgrebe took third in 58.48.
Mesa's Breeja Larson used a crushing back half to earn a convincing win in the women's 200 breast. The runner-up at the NCAA Championships this year clocked 2:34.73, defeating Sun Devil's Rebecca Ejdervik (2:40.10). Wild West's Sam Harding placed third in 2:50.08. Tooley finished first in the men's 200 breast, clocking 2:32.04. Sun Devil's Julius Schmidt earned runner-up honors in 2:33.42, while Nashville's Taylor Charles ended up third in 2:36.26.
Nashville's Morgan Flynn earned the win in the women's 1500 free in 17:13.92. Harding took second in 17:32.35, while Sun Devil's Ashlyn Royce finished third (18:02.96). Notably, Sun Devil's Lexi Aitchison, 14, clocked 17:32.51 for one of the top times of the day out of the 13-14 event. Sun Devil swept the men's 1500 as Josh Olszewski won in 16:47.87, followed by teammates Hayden Thomas (16:57.06) and Derek Knittle (16:57.94).
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