Jordan Foster Wins 50-Free at UNLV Invitational
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Jordan Foster turned in her best time of the season in the 50-Free prelims at 23.36, and then beat that time with a 23.30 to win the 50-yard freestyle at the UNLV Invitational, highlighting a solid day for the Lobos at their first major invitational meet of the season.
The 50-free was easily UNM’s top event in the pool for the first full day of competition. Overall, teams from host UNLV competed with swimmers and divers from Hawai’i, Colorado Mesa, Pacific, Cal Baptist, Arizona, Seattle, and UNM.
Along with Foster’s win in the 50-free, Katy McCarter won the B-Final of the event with a final time of 23.62, a time that actually would have placed her seventh in the A-Final. Foster’s winning time of 23:30 was easily the top time in the 50-free this season for the Lobos, and McCarter’s 23:62 is third, behind both of Foster’s marks. The previous best for the season was a 24:33 time that won the event in the NMSU dual meet for McCarter back in November.
UNM nearly had another A-Final participant in the 500-free, with Maya Clise turning in a terrific 5:01.42, shaving off nearly 18 seconds off her season-best mark, but she missed the A-Final cut by less than a second. She then bested her time against with a 5:00.85 to take fifth in the B-Final and 13th overall.
Brynn Quintana was UNM’s other 500-free finalist, coming in eighth in the C-Final, turning in a 5:21.30 after a 5:15.25 prelim mark that was more than 22 seconds better than her previous season-best.
In the 200-individual medley, Tahlia Micallef continued the theme of obliterating season-bests as she swam a 2:06.29 to take second in the C-Final. Micallef won the event at Northern Arizona in a dual meet with a time of 2:13.24. Kiana Raagas was fifth in the C-Final at 2:10.27, bettering her previous best by over 11 seconds.
In the two relays, UNM’s team of Foster, McCarter, Linda Franco and Iryna Tsesiul finished seventh out of 16 overall, best two other A groups for the 200-free relay. UNM’s B-relay of Maddie Deucher, Layni Andrle, Alex McGill, and Sophia Corder was 13th. In the 400-medley relay, UNM finished 10th with the team of Tsesiul, Ola Tomaszek, Foster, and McCarter with McGill, Raagas, Andrle, Franco in 13th.