Junior Nationals, Day Five Finals: Heading to Junior Pan Pacs, Gabi Brito Cruises to Crown in 200 IM
Preparing for the Junior Pan Pacific Championships later this month in Vancouver, Gabi Brito gathered momentum on Friday night by winning the 200-meter individual medley at the United States Junior National Championships. Coming off a strong showing at Senior Nationals, Brito roared to the title in the 200 IM with a mark of 2:14.64, which was more than a second ahead of runnerup Lucy Velte (2:15.77).
Brito will contest multiple events at Junior Pan Pacs and could be a contributor on several American relays. As she heads to Vancouver, Brito should be feeling positive about her form. In her Friday night victory, Brito trailed Velte by .01 after the opening butterfly leg. But by the time she hit the midway point of the race, the backstroke leg had handed Brito a .65 advantage. That edge moved to 1.66 seconds entering the closing lap and while Velte rallied, Brito had plenty of cushion to prevail.
In the boys’ 200 individual medley, Cullen Kahl registered a decisive triumph behind a performance of 2:00.43. Kahl used a 33.70 breaststroke split to open up a big lead through 150 meters and finished her race with a freestyle leg of 29.18. The silver medal went to Parker van Olst, who touched the wall in a time of 2:02.89.
Sutton Forbis emerged on top of the field in the girls’ 50 freestyle, as her time of 25.38 was quicker than the 25.50 of Charlie Terrell. On the boys’ side, the 50 free title was earned by Thor Johannessen in 22.19. The second-place finisher was Julian Granison in 22.31.
In distance action, Ellie Patla won the girls’ 1500 freestyle in 16:38.15.
