For full results, recaps, live broadcast of finals and photos from the meet, go to the CeraVe Invitational Event Landing Page
Reporting by special Swimming World student reporters Joey Cusmano and Regan Fink
PISCATAWAY, New Jersey, January 11. THE age groupers took to the pool for the final time during the 2009 CeraVe Invitational hosted by the Berkeley Aquatic Club on the campus of Rutgers University. Will Rappaport of Badger Swim Club sent the age group portion of the meet out with a bang with a meet record.
Girls 11-12 100 free
Michelle Kim (1:03.00) of the Ridgewood YMCA touched out teammate Sara Nestrowitz (1:03.12). Regan Kology of the Elite Swim Club placed third with a time of 1:03.93. Five of the top six swimmers in this event lowered their seed time, and all of the top six achieved zone qualifying times.
Boys 11-12 100 free
Ryan Nicholson (1:00.88) of Lansing Cats, seeded first, edged John Om (1:00.92) from Ridgewood YMCA to win the event this afternoon. Nicholson dropped a second from his seed time, while Om cut two seconds. Alex Smith of Westchester Marlins followed with a time of 1:02.33. All three swam Zone qualifying times.
Girls 13-14 400 free
With the top three finishers each 13 years old, Isla Hutchinson-Maddox of Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics beat out her competition by more than six seconds. Hutchinson-Maddox swam a 4:34.26 lowering her seed time by more than four seconds to earn a sectional cut.
Erin McElfresh (4:41.73) of the Lansing Cats placed second, while Nicole Rodriguez of Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics took third in 4:44.71.
Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics proved extremely strong in this event, as per five of the top nine swimmers were from Agua.
Boys 13-14 400 free
Michael Lennon (4:19.53) of Long Island Aquatic Club swam two seconds faster than his seed time to win this afternoon's middle distance event. Will Rappaport (4:22.73) of Badger Swim Club moved up seven seed spots to touch second, dropping almost 16 seconds from his seed time. Finishing four seconds faster than his seed time, Bobby Hilzen of New Jersey Wave finished third in 4:27.78. Lennon, Rappaport, and Hilzen cleared the zone cut.
Girls 10-U 50 back
Annmarie Picinich of Ridgewood YMCA was seeded 11th heading into timed finals, but came out victorious with a first-place finish. Picinich whacked more than four seconds from her seed time to win in 36.31. Cathy Tan of the Long Island Swim Club took second with a time of 37.21. Andrea Galea (37.39) of Elite Swim Club subtracted more than three seconds to secure third. The top 14 swimmers in this event were able to swim zone qualifying times.
Boys 10-U 50 back
Lansing Cats' Kevin Miller (37.80) won the sprint back event, dropping almost two seconds from his seed time. Scarlet Aquatic Club's Justin Torres (38.50) touched right after Miller to cut almost one second from his seed time. Berkeley Aquatic Club's Ryan Ding (38.95) swam less than a second faster that his seed time for third. The top three finishers also swam zone qualifying times to match their seed placements.
Girls 11-12 50 fly
Natalia Rincon of the Tidal Wave Swim Team swam a time of 31.46 to secure first place in the sprint fly. Top-seeded Michelle Kim (31.54) of the Ridgewood YMCA finished behind Rincon by a mere .08. Berkeley Aquatic Club's Erin Barry clocked a 32.48. Barry took half a second off her seed time. The top five swimmers in this event also achieved zone qualifying times.
Boys 11-12 50 fly
First-seed Ryan Nicholson (29.79) of Lansing Cats won for the second time today, swimming almost two seconds faster than his seed time. Similar to the 11-12 100 free, John Om (30.17) of Ridgewood YMCA placed second. Om cut two seconds from his seed time. Dropping less than a second from his seeded time, Ryan Sebastian (30.53) of Elite Swim Club earned third place.
Girls 13-14 100 fly
Isla Hutchinson-Maddox of Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics secured another title this afternoon. Hutchinson-Maddox (1:05.18) subtracted two seconds from her seed time while Erin McElfresh (1:06.37) of the Lansing Cats went a best time to grab second. Both competitors swam sectional qualifying times. Jocelyn Yuen (1:08.26) of X-Cel Swimming placed third.
Boys 13-14 100 fly
Badger Swim Club placed 1-2 in the event this afternoon. Samuel Mo (1:01.42) won the event while dropping two seconds from his seed time. Originally seeded 15th, Charles Barry (1:02.51) swam almost four seconds faster than his seed time for second. Moving up six places, Agua Swim Team's J.R. Chansakul (1:03.20) touched behind Barry to cut almost two seconds from his entered time.
Girls 10-U 100 free
Kaitlin Stearns of the Elite Swim Club took almost three seconds off her seed time to win the race in 1:08.44. Cathy Tan of the Long Island Aquatic Club finished in the top three again for second with a time of 1:09.62, more than three seconds faster than her seed time. Delaware Swim Team's Madison Northshield took third to subtract more than half a second from her seed time.
Boys 10-U 100 free
Long Island Aquatic Club's Dylan VanManen (1:09.12) held seed by capturing first place this afternoon while dropping two seconds from his seed time. Lansing Cats' Kevin Miller (1:09.78), winner of the 50 back, cut almost three seconds to touch second. Berkeley Aquatic Club's Ryan Ding (1:09.90) placed third for the second time of the afternoon. All three times beat the zone qualifying time.
Girls 11-12 100 back
Top seeded Sara Nestrowitz of Ridgewood YMCA claimed first place by more than three seconds. Nestrowitz clocked a 1:11.94 to qualify for zones. Genna McLaughlin (1:15.67) of the Westchester Marlins snagged second by touching out third-place Natalia Rincon (1:15.97) of the Tidal Wave Swim Team.
Boys 11-12 100 back
First-seeded Alex Smith (1:10.57) of the Westchester Marlins, who placed third in the 100 freestyle, dominated the 100 backstroke this afternoon. He also swam two seconds faster than his seed time. Ryan Sebastian (1:12.10), who placed third in the 100 fly, dropped a second and finished behind Smith. Ronan Corgel (1:13.23) of Lansing Cats touched third.
Girls 13-14 200 back
Nicole Rodriguez of Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics won the race by more than a second with a sectional time of 2:28.67.
New Jersey Wave's Casey Fazio, who was seeded third, moved up to finish in second place with a time of 2:30.16. Fazio, along with Cori Michibata (2:33.79) of X-Cel Swimming, as well as the other top 12 finishers, all achieved zone qualifying times.
Boys 13-14 200 back
Badger Swim Club's Charles Barry (2:19.36), who placed second in the 100 fly, touched first in the 200 back this afternoon. Barry dropped five seconds from his seeded time after originally being seeded seventh. Barry's teammate, and 100 butterfly champion, Samuel Mo (2:20.62) finished second. New Jersey Wave's Bobby Hilzen (2:24.01), who touched third in the 400 free, followed Mo. Hilzen also cut a second from his seed time and moved up nine spots.
Girls 10-U 100 fly
Sixth-seed Annmarie Picinich had a seed time of more than five and a half seconds behind the top-seeded Tatum Lawson. Picinich (1:18.10) of the Ridgewood YMCA, however, cut six seconds from her seed time, and nudged out Lawson (1:18.49) of the Berkeley Aquatic Club. In third place, Maryann Lennon (1:19.88) of the Long Island Aquatic Club subtracted more than three seconds off her seed time to hold onto her spot as the third seed. The top 16 swimmers all swam zone qualifying times.
Boys 10-U 100 fly
Chris Balbo (1:18.84) of Elite Swim Club captured first in the 100 butterfly with ease while swimming nine seconds faster than his seed time. Teammates Justin Torres (1:20.26) and Kevin Doo (1:25.65) of Scarlet Aquatic Club placed second and third, respectively. Torres dropped two seconds, while Doo cut a second.
Girls 11-12 200 IM
The Ridgewood YMCA grabbed yet another first place. Michelle Kim swam a time of 2:32.76 in the event. Third-seeded Erin Barry (2:35.98) of the Berkeley Aquatic Club moved up to place second with a zone cut. Elite Swim Club's Regan Kology (2:37.53) touched third. The top five swimmers in the event all achieved zone qualifying times.
Boys 11-12 200 IM
For the third time of the day, Lansing Cats' Ryan Nicholson (2:28.45) defeated Ridgewood YMCA's John Om (2:31.40) for first place as Nicholson proved to be Om's nemesis this afternoon. Nicholson swam four seconds faster than his seed time, while Om dropped seven seconds off his seed time. Om's teammate, Harold Choo (2:33.22), finished third and cut seven seconds from his seed time. All three times beat the zone qualifying time.
Girls 13-14 100 breast
Jocelyn Yuen of X-Cel Swimming finished first with a time of 1:20.03. Jessica Reynoso (1:21.78) of Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics placed second. Connie Zhang of X-Cel swimming finished in third with a 1:22.22.
Boys 13-14 100 breast
Winner Will Rappaport (1:10.68) of Badger Swim Club crushed the competition, and the meet record today, by swimming four seconds faster than his seed time. Sean Roddy held the previous record of 1:11.47, which he set in January 2006. Matthew Dezenzo (1:12.31) of Berkeley Aquatic Club touched second. J.R. Chansakul (1:12.33) of Agua Swim Team followed immediately after Dezenzo to drop three seconds off his seed time.
