Jul 202016
 

Seventeen TNT swimmers traveled to USC over the third weekend of July to compete at the 2016 LA Invitational where swimmers such as Yuliya Efimova missed a World Record by only two seconds. Five of our seventeen swimmers earned a second swim in one of four heats at the meet, and our team’s highest finish was the 18th place time of 27.31 posted in the 15-18 girl’s 50 meter freestyle by Selma’s Sierra Jett. Sierra also finished 30th in the 100 freestyle after posting a time of 59.59 in the preliminary heats, earning a spot in the 18-under D-final. Visalia’s Megan Ridenour, along with Mallory Korenwinder, posted the next highest finish for our team, and each swimmer earned spots in the C-final. Megan Ridenour finished 21st in the 100 meter breaststroke, after posting a lifetime best of 1:15.37 in the preliminary heats. Megan will be traveling to Roseville for Sectionals, and then on to Stanford for Futures in upcoming weeks. Mallory Korenwinder had the highest number of second swims for our team, with her highest finish also being 21stin the 200 meter breaststroke, she swam 2:44.40 in the C-final. She also finished 27th in the 18-under final of the 100 free after swimming 59.32 in the preliminary heats, and also finished 28th in the 18-under final of the 50 meter freestyle after swimming 27.60 in the preliminary heats of that event. Our next highest finisher was Danielle Albright who joined Megan Ridenour in the C-final of the 100 meter breaststroke, and Danielle finished 23rd there after swimming 1:15.68 in the prelims. JD Koster was our only other finalist, making it into the 18-under D-final of the 200 meter butterfly, and finishing 32nd, after posting his first Sectional time of 2:13.83 in the preliminary heats.

2016 LA Invite

Only one team record was broken in an individual event at the meet, and that was by Visalia’s 14-year old Mackenzie Garza in the 50 meter freestyle. Mackenzie swam a time of 28.06 which was nearly a tenth of a second improvement from the June Age Group Invitational meet only a few weeks earlier. Her time falls under Samantha Goates previous team record of 28.12 set at Junior Olympics in 2004 when Mackenzie was about two years old. Mackenzie’s new record stands as the 165th fastest nationally for girls at age 14. And at age 14, Mackenzie will join our Sectional Team as they compete in Roseville the weekend following LA Invite. Her time finished 64th at the meet, in an event that typically has advantage for much older athletes.

Other TNT swimmers who competed at the meet, along with their highest finish, include: Janessa Bringe (200 fly – 70th), Morgan Coddington (400 IM – 73rd), Alonso Escobedo (400 IM – 40th), Lauren Geiger (100 back – 140th), Jonas Huckabay (800 free – 47th),Khloe McCarthy (200 back – 58th), Katherine Mendyk (200 breast – 98th), Preston Niayesh (200 fly – 62nd), Ashley Olson (100 back – 156th), Satoshi Shinkawa (100 fly – 88th), and Blake Wong (100 breast – 109th).

The Los Angeles Invitational is the last chance for swimmers to qualify for the Sectional meet, and our Sectional Team is now established with: Danielle Albright, Mackenzie Garza, Khloe McCarthy, Megan Ridenour on the girls side, and Preston Niayesh, Alonso Escobedo, and JD Koster on the boys side. Shortly following Sectionals is Futures to be held at Stanford University, and our current team consists of: Khloe McCarthy, Danielle Albright, and Megan Ridenour. Good luck at both meets.

 Posted by at 21:04