Krayzelburg Wins 200 Back, Benko 200 Free At Trials
August 14, 2000 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Aug. 14, 2000
INDIANAPOLIS - Former Trojan Lindsay Benko earned her first U.S. Olympic team berth and fellow USC alum Lenny Krayzelburg secured his second spot as the United States Olympic Swimming Trials passed its halfway point in Indianapolis, Ind.
Benko earned her first spot by winning the 200-meter freestyle in 2:00.45 on Saturday (Aug. 12), edging Rada Owen (2:00.54) and third-place Samantha Arsenault (2:00.79). The first-two finishers earn Olympic berths in each event, though the top six earn spots in the 200 free. Other USC finishers in the event were junior-to-be Kristin MacGregor (61st, 2:06.42) and just-graduated Paige Francis (77th, 2:08.78).
Benko is also the top qualifier in the 200-meter backstroke and will swim the finals of that event Tuesday night.
Krayzelburg, who earned his first spot on the team in the 100-meter backstroke on Aug. 11, won his second event of the trials by taking the 200-meter back on Monday (Aug. 14) in 1:57.31, downing young upstart Aaron Peirsol (1:58.98). Fellow USC alum Brad Bridgewater, the 1996 Olympic champion in the event, finished sixth in 2:00.67.
Sophomore-to-be Michala Kwasny made her second finals appearance of the trials in the 200-meter IM finals, but finished seventh in 2:17.72. She also took sixth in the 400 IM.
Kristine Quance-Julian, perhaps the all-time greatest USC women's swimmer, fell short in her bid to make her second consecutive Olympic squad. In her last race, she finished fifth in the 200-meter butterfly in 2:14.18. She also just missed the finals of the 200-meter IM, taking ninth in the semifinals in 2:17.49. Former USC All-American Karen Campbell was 14th in the 200-meter fly (2:15.91) and Kwasny was 16th in 2:15.91. Senior-to-be Corrie Murphy also took 18th in the 200-meter IM in 2:20.00, just missing the semifinals.
Bret Awbrey, a 2000 USC graduate, and sophomore-to-be Mike Gausman, both made the semifinals of the men's 200-meter fly, but missed out on the finals. Awbrey tied for 11th in 2:01.12 and Gausman was 14th in 2:01.98. Fellow sophomores-to-be David Ringe and Erik Tolmachoff took 36th (2:03.27) and 38th (2:03.64), respectively, in the event. Gausman was also 50th in the 200-meter IM (2:09.49).
A host of Trojans joined Benko in the 200-meter back. Murphy was 40th (2:20.24), Francis was 64th (2:22.17) while junior-to-be Katie Meyer was 72nd (2:23.09) and sophomore-to-be Calli Payne was 2:28.93. Francis was also 89th in the 100-meter free (59.19).
Mike Williams, who graduated in 1999, took 22nd in the 100-meter fly (55.06). Ringe was 47th in 56.08 and former Trojan Brad Francis was 54th (56.36).
Senior-to-be Gabe Woodward tied for 46th in the 50-meter free (23.71).
