ORLANDO, FL- This past week (March 15-19) fifteen Baylor Swim Club athletes traveled to Orlando, FL to compete in the 2022 NCSA Junior National Championships. The meet is being held at the YMCA Aquatic Center in Orlando, FL. In general, there are over 1700 swimmers in the meet representing over 250 clubs from all over the nation. The NCSA Junior National Championships is one of the top swimming competitions in the country on an annual basis for swimmers eighteen years old and under.
Leading the way for Baylor were some outstanding performances from Drew Hitchcock. He came away with the NCSA Junior National Championship in the 400-yard IM on day four of the competition. He made a furious comeback on the last 25-yards to post a time of 3:47.29 and take the title. Hitchcock joins former Baylor Swimming athletes Sam McHugh, Luke Kalizak, Kristen Vredeveld, and Trey Freeman as champions at this meet. All these athletes have gone on to win NCAA Championships and earn medals for Team USA in various international competitions. On Wednesday evening Hitchcock put up a second-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly. His time of 1:44.81 ranks as the second-fastest tenth grader in the country in the 200-yard butterfly. Hitchcock also finished 4th in the 100 and 8th in the 50-yard butterfly events.
Teammate Josean Massucco has also had an outstanding NCSA Junior Nationals. Massucco finished sixth in the 1650-yard freestyle and seventh in the 200-yard butterfly. Sam Flack swam to a new personal best time of 4:25.26 in the 500-yard freestyle and placed fifth overall in the event. He also took sixth in the 1000 and 11th in the 1650-yard freestyle events.
Baylor Swim Club highlights/results
- Lillie Boggs– 16th-1000 FR
- Sam Flack– 5th-500 FR | 6th-1000 FR | 11th- 1650 FR | 19th-200 FLY | 23rd-400 IM
- Caden Fritz– 7th-200 BK | 22nd-100 BK
- Charlie Han– 13th-200 BR
- Drew Hitchcock– 1st-400 IM | 2nd-200 FLY | 4th-100 FLY | 8th-50 FLY | 9th-200 IM | 10th-200 BK
- Josean Massucco– 6th-1650 FR | 7th-200 FLY | 11th-1000 FR | 15th-500 FR | 16th-400 IM
- Madeline Yates– 20th-50 FLY
Congratulations to the following Baylor Swim Club athletes that competed in this high level meet this past week: Lille Boggs, Sam Flack, Caden Fritz, Charlie Han, Drew Hitchcock, Josean Massucco, Avery May, Genevieve O’Neil, Cullen Roberts, Caroline Schenck, Owen Seymour, Finley Smith, Will Taylor, Luke Waldrep, and Madelyn Yates.
