Junior Nationals, Day One Finals: Madi Mintenko Claims 800 Freestyle Title; Complements Senior Crown in 400 Free
It’s been quite a week for Madi Mintenko in Southern California. First, the University of Virginia sophomore captured the title in the 400-meter freestyle at the United States National Championships. For good measure, the 18-year-old emerged triumphant on Monday in the final of the 800 freestyle at Junior Nationals.
Leading from the start, Mintenko pulled away over the final 200 meters and earned the gold medal in 8:36.77, with second place taken by Vivienne Zangaro (8:39.42). The bronze medal went to Madalyn Petty (8:43.25).
Mintenko was terrific at Senior Nationals, setting a lifetime best of 4:04.54 to win the 400 freestyle at the William Woollett Aquatics Center. She was also the third-place finisher in the 200 freestyle, behind a swim of 1:55.87. Rather than head home, Mintenko opted to stay in Irvine for Junior Nationals, and the decision paid off.
Part of the high-powered contingent at the University of Virginia, Mintenko enjoyed a strong first season at the collegiate level. While qualifying for the championship finals of the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle, Mintenko helped the Cavaliers to their sixth consecutive team championship.
At last week’s Senior Nationals, Ewan Dalrymple (Columbia Swimming) prevailed in the 18-and-under final of the 200 butterfly to nail down a bid to the Junior Pan Pacific Championships. In his two races, Dalrymple clocked marks of 1:56.45 and 1:56.56. On Monday night, he was nearly a second quicker, as he secured the Junior National crown in 1:55.65, which was nearly three seconds faster than the 1:58.44 of runnerup Blake Hill.
Three athletes broke the 1:10 mark in the girls’ 100 breaststroke, with Nova’s Sofia Szymanowski securing a wire-to-wire victory. Szymanowski registered a swim of 1:09.28, and was followed in second place by Brenley Bonez (Duneland), who clocked a 1:09.46. Third place was claimed by Grace Koenig-Song (Wildcat) in 1:09.50.
Quest Swimming’s Emerson Callis rallied down the final lap to earn the victory in the girls’ 200 butterfly, going 2:10.92. When Callis turned at the 150-meter mark, she faced a .40 deficit to SwimMAC’s Caroline Mallard. But a closing length of 34.54 enabled Callis to get to the wall first, with Mallard picking up the silver medal in 2:11.13.
In other action, Gabia Gelumbickas (Saint Andrew’s) won the girls’ 50 backstroke in 28.48 while Benjamin Jaggers (Waterloo) topped the field in the boys’ 50 backstroke, going 25.03. Ryan Coughenour (Columbia) defeated the opposition in the 100 breaststroke, thanks to a time of 1:01.38.
