On the final night of the 2010 National Junior Swimming Championships in Orlando, Florida, Baylor School’s Junior Ashley Vance qualified for the NCSA National team by placing 2nd in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:01.12. The top two finishers in each event automatically qualify for the national team with will represent the USA at the Irish national championships in April. Vance ranks as the 6th fastest 17 year old in this event in the country.
Also on Saturday, Baylor school freshman Kristen Vredveld placed 3rd in the 50 freestyle, clocking a time of 23.10. Vredveld is still under consideration for the trip to Ireland, and is the 3rd fastest 14 year old in the nation and was the fastest 14 year old in the competition.
Vredveld then lead off Baylor’s 400 medley relay in a National championship qualifying time of 55.77, the 6th fastest time in the nation for her age. Then Senior Alison Lusk, Vance, and Senior Anna Rae Gwarjanski combined for a great time of 3:45.77 to place 6th and qualify for the National championships held in Irvine, California this August.
Baylor Head Coach Dan Flack was selected as an assistant coach for the national trip to Ireland, but declined due to prior commitments.
Baylor finished 18th overall out of over 200 teams in this national competition, it’s third top twenty finish in a row.
“This was a great finish on the competition. Folks have no idea how tough it is to stay sharp through this many races over the course of five days of racing, and our kids really stepped it up and were a great team tonight.” said Flack.