University Southern California Trojans
USC
U.S. Nationals
Trojans Strong Again At Short Course Nationals
December 03, 2010 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Junior Katinka Hosszu (400y IM) and seniors Lyndsay DePaul (100y fly) and Presley Bard (100y back) all won titles - as did both 800y free relays -- while sophomore Patrick White was a two-time finalist to highlight the second day the 2010 U.S. AT&T Short Course National Championships at Ohio State's Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatics in Columbus on Friday (Dec. 3).
"The Trojans stepped up again tonight and came away with several national titles along with the all-important NCAA standards," USC Coach Dave Salo said. "The alums are leaving messages daily proud of our accomplishments this weekend. It's great to feel the Trojan pride. But this is our stepping stone to the NCAA championships in March where we want to step into the battle for the team championship."
The finals were kicked off by the 200y medley relay. After registering the fastest time in prelims (1:38.79), USC's quartet of Bard, freshman Kasey Carlson, DePaul and sophomore Christel Simms broke the school record with a 1:37.31, an NCAA `A' cut good for second place. Cal edged Troy for first with a 1:36.79.
USC's men's 200y medley relay, which went 1:28.58 in prelims, finished third in finals with the unit of sophomore Nick Karpov, senior Dillon Connolly and freshmen Chase Bloch and Vladimir Morozov going 1:26.88, an NCAA `B' cut.
Hosszu crushed the field to win the 400y IM in 4:00.03 (NCAA `A' cut), lowering her own school record and erasing Dagny Knutson's meet record of 4:00.62. Like she did in the 200y IM Thursday, Hosszu took on and defeated American record holder Julia Smit of Stanford, who was second in 4:03.55. Freshman Meghan Hawthorne, who was eighth in the prelims (4:12.90, NCAA `B') of the 400y IM, finished eighth in the final in 4:13.01. USC's top finisher in the men's 400y IM was Alex Lendrum. He just missed qualifying for the final (3:53.54, NCAA `B' in prelims) and finished fourth in the consolation final (3:53.79). Sophomores Spencer Di Dio (3:56.23) and Justin DiFederico (3:56.47) finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the same heat.
DePaul twice broke the USC record in the 100y fly Friday, the second time coming in a championship swim in which she touched the wall first in 51.46. Stanford's Elaine Breeden, who edged DePaul for a 2010 NCAA title in the event in March, was second this time in 52.31. So was eighth in the race in 53.46 after going 53.34 (NCAA `B') in prelims. Hosszu qualified for the final but withdrew. DePaul first broke the 100y school record in prelims with a 51.46, erasing her old standard (51.67).
White reached the final of the men's 100y fly and finished ninth in 47.41. He went 47.29 in prelims, an NCAA `B' cut.
Sophomore Haley Anderson, who won the 500y free Thursday, finished eighth (1:47.32) in the final of the 200y free. She went 1:46.50 in prelims (NCAA `B'). Bard (1:45.38) qualified for the final (with the third-fastest prelim) as did DePaul, but both scratched from the race.
In the men's 200y free, sophomore Clement Lefert, after finishing second in prelims (1:34.99), came back to take third (1:35.13) while freshman teammate Dimitri Colupaev finished fifth (1:35.53) and White was 10th (1:37.39). The top five finishers in the race were within 0.50 of each other.
Freshman Kasey Carlson finished eighth in the 100y breast in 1:00.41 after going 1:00.09 in prelims, which was just off the NCAA `A standard (59.99). Sophomore Jessica Schmitt took fifth (1:01.69) in the consolation final while fellow sophomore Jordan Danny was eighth (1:02.20). Both were season-best efforts and NCAA `B' cuts.
Senior Dillon Connolly finished sixth in the final of the 100y breast (53.00), not far off his school record of 52.73.
Bard was the second-fastest qualifier in the 100y back prelims (52.74) behind Gemma Spofforth, who beat Bard in the race at the 2010 NCAAs. But Bard got the best of the field Friday in the final. She led wire-to-wire to win in 51.82, an NCAA `A' cut and just off her school record of 51.71. Spofforth finished in 52.13. So lost a swim off to race in the 100y back championship final but came back to win the consolation final (53.91).
Morozov qualified for the 100y back but scratched. Lendrum finished 10th (49.22) in the consolation final to lead USC finishers.
To close the meet, Hosszu, Anderson, junior Amanda Smith and senior Ellie Doran captured the women's 800y free relay in 7:07.11 (NCAA `B'), two seconds ahead of second-place Cal.
Not to be outdone, the men's relay of Lefert, Colupaev, White and freshman Jack Wagner also claimed first in an NCAA `A' 6:22.61, five seconds ahead of second-place Ohio State.
The meet concludes Saturday.
Players Mentioned
