By Katie Lively, Swimming World College Intern
The first record of the Western Region Sectionals fell on night two as Taylor Ruck of Scottsdale Aquatic Club (SAC) shattered the 200 free record and became the first woman to go under two minutes at the meet.
Ruck’s 1:59.90 improved the former record of 2:02.49 by more than two seconds. She finished more than three seconds ahead of second place, Sara Metzsch (2:03.10) of Tualatin Hills Swim Club (THSC), and third place, Felicity Cann (2:04.03) of Boise YMCA Swim Team (BY).
Ruck’s 200 free victory highlighted a second consecutive day that saw three wins for the Scottsdale Aquatic Club. At the beginning of the morning session, the SAC relay teams swept the 200 free relay—the women (Ruck, Claire Grover, Gabriella Fagan and Alexa Markl) in 1:45.94 and the men (Jack Blake, Parker Hughes, Joshua Vedder and Sean Gage) in 1:35.62.
The women held off The Dolphins Portland Swimming (TDPS) relay of Alayna Connor, Jordan Ashmore, Audrey Gingras and Lindsey Swail, which finished in 1:46.47. The men just edged out the University of Denver Hilltoppers (TOPS) team of Jared Smith, Benton Ussery, Connor Gillespie and Kyle Robrock, which was right behind them in 1:35.91.
Unlike the previous evening, SAC was not alone in claiming three titles on the night—RallySport Aquatic Club (RACE) of Colorado earned the same number with a victory in the men’s 200 free and a sweep of the 400 IM. Christopher Nicholson blew out the field in the 200 free with a 1:52.13 as Michael Niezgodzki of Phoenix Swim Club finished second in 1:54.28 and Aaron Sett of Foothills Swim Team edged out unattached swimmer Austin Crump for third in 1:55.41.
After a second place finish in prelims, Sandra Freeman easily took the women’s 400 IM for RACE in 4:55.13. Three seconds behind her was Kelly Huffer of SAC in 4:58.53, followed by Sydney Carlson of PSC in 4:59.25.
For the men, it was Michael Bartholomew who managed the win in what became a two-man race for the title. Bartholomew swam a 4:34.44, finishing just ahead of Jackson Cunningham (4:34.91) of BY.
All results can be found on Meet Mobile.
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