USA Swimming contact:

Sara Hunninghake, (719) 866-3588, shunninghake@usaswimming.org

MELBOURNE, Australia – Leah Gingrich (Enola, Pa. / West Shore YMCA) captured her first individual gold on Day 4 of the Victorian State Championships (Jan. 3-7, Melbourne, Australia), highlighting another strong day of performances for the U.S. National Junior Team. The Americans captured six medals on Friday to bring its meet total to 29: nine gold, eight silver and 12 bronze.

During the first three days of the meet, Gingrich had earned a medal of every color: gold as a member of the 800m freestyle relay, silver in the 400m free and bronze in the 200m butterfly and 1500m free. It was only the individual gold that eluded her.

Gingrich got her chance on Friday, swimming down Australian National Team members Elka Graham, Haley Reddaway and Caroline North to win the gold with a time of 8:39.89. American teammate Monica Drake (Bloomington, Ill. / BNY Waves) posted an 8:43.31 to take home the bronze. In a stacked American field, four additional U.S. swimmers finished in the top 10.

“The women’s 800 free was an outstanding race,” said Mike Parratto, women’s assistant coach. “It has to give all of those distance girls and their coaches great confidence in their ability. I think their training will move to a whole new level.”

Michelle McKeehan (Greenwood, Ind. / Center Grove) notched a double-bronze performance, finishing in third in both the 100m breaststroke and the 200m individual medley. In the 100m breast, McKeehan clocked a 1:09.93 to become the first Junior Team member to break the 1:10 barrier. Australian Olympic medalist Brooke Hansen won the gold in both events.

“I didn’t feel any pressure because I’m not supposed to beat those guys (2005 Australian World Championship team members Hansen and Sarah Katsoulis),” McKeehan said. “I just tried to keep up with them. The time (in the 100m breast) was really a surprise. I had no idea I would go that fast.”

Eugene Godsoe (Greensboro, N.C. / Greensboro Swim) narrowly missed winning medals on Friday, but he put together an impressive performance to lead the men’s team. Competing in three finals, Godsoe finished fourth in the 50m back and fifth in the 50m fly. He then took on Australian Olympians Michael Klim and Brett Hawke in the 100m free semifinals, qualifying in the eighth spot for tomorrow evening’s final.

“I’m really glad I made it back in the 100 free,” Godsoe said. “I had a really slow turn. From the race analysis information, I think it was the slowest turn in the history of USA Swimming. If I can correct that, I should be successful tomorrow night.”

“Eugene (Godsoe) is a really tough swimmer,” said Clayton Cagel, men’s head coach. “He had an extremely tight triple and stepped up with great times in all three events. I haven’t seen many athletes handle short recovery that well.”

Other U.S. medals on Day 4 included Josh Hafkin’s (Rockville, Md. / Rockville Montgomery) silver in the 50m backstroke and Megan Romano’s (St. Petersburg, Fla. / St. Petersburg Aquatics) bronze in the 100m free.

Day 5 (Saturday) of the Victorian Championships at the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre begins with heats at 9 a.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m. Melbourne is 16 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time, which means heats begin at 5 p.m. EST on Friday Jan. 6, and finals begin at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday Jan. 7.

Download the National Junior Team media guide by following the link or logging on to www.usaswimming.org.

Here’s how the rest of Team USA fared in the Top 10 in each event:

Men’s 50m Back FINAL:

Josh Hafkin (Rockville, Md.), 26.36, Silver

Eugene Godsoe (Greensboro, N.C.), 26.73, 4th

Men’s 50m Fly FINAL:

Eugene Godsoe (Greensboro, N.C.), 25.73, 5th

David Seiler (Auburn, Calif.), 25.75, 6th

Women’s 100m Breast FINAL:

Michelle McKeehan (Greenwood, Ind.), 1:09.93, Bronze

Caitlin Leverenz (Tucson, Ariz.), 1:12.18, 4th

Jessica Schmitt (San Diego, Calif.), 1:13.85, 6th

Women’s 200m IM FINAL:

Michelle McKeehan (Greenwood, Ind.), 2:17.89, Bronze

Caitlin Leverenz (Tucson, Ariz.), 2:19.81, 6th

Kirsten Smith (Cary, N.C.), 2:20.73, 7th

Kathleen Hersey (Atlanta, Ga.), 2:20.79, 8th

Jessica Schmitt (San Diego, Calif.), 2:21.69, 10th

Women’s 100m Free FINAL:

Megan Romano (St. Petersburg, Fla.), 56.76, Bronze

Karlee Bispo (Modesto, Calif.), 57.41, 4th

Samantha Woodward (Edmond, Okla.), 57.70, 6th

Women’s 800m Free FINAL:

Leah Gingrich (Enola, Pa.), 8:39.89, Gold

Monica Drake (Bloomington, Ill.), 8:43.31, Bronze

Chloe Sutton (Ashburn, Va.), 8:43.52, 4th

Corinne Showalter (Sarasota, Fla.), 8:49.57, 5th

Jessica Rodriquez (Aurora, Colo.), 8:52.76, 6th

Chelsea Franklin (Estero, Fla.), 8:58.09, 8th

Men’s 100m Free SEMI advancing:

Eugene Godsoe (Greensboro, N.C.), 52.68, 8th

Women’s 50m Back SEMI advancing:

Kristen Shickora (Tamaqua, Pa.), 29.68, 2nd

Megan Romano (St. Petersburg, Fla.), 30.41, 8th

Women’s 100m Fly SEMI advancing:

Samantha Woodward (Edmond, Okla.), 1:02.20, 4th

Kathleen Hersey (Atlanta, Ga.), 1:03.04, 6th

Tanya Krisman (Wildomar, Calif.), 1:03.10, 7th

Teresa Crippen (Conshohocken, Pa.), 1:03.38, 10th

Men’s 50m Breast SEMI advancing:

Dillon Connolly (Marietta, Ga.), 29.69, 3rd

Clark Burckle (Louisville, Ky.), 30.65, 9th

Troy Nissen (Sacramento, Calif.), 30.67, 10th

Women’s 50m Free SEMI advancing:

Samantha Woodward (Edmond, Okla.), 26.61, 4th

Karlee Bispo (Modesto, Calif.), 26.70, 5th

Megan Romano (St. Petersburg, Fla.), 26.72, 6th

Kristen Shickora (Tamaqua, Pa.), 27.09, 8th

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