St. Margarita Cracks Carmel’s National HS and NAG Record in Girls 400 FR Relay | SwimSwam

By Spencer Penland on SwimSwam

2022 CIF SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• May 12-14, 2022
• Clovis Olympic Swim Complex, Fresno, CA
• SCY (25 Yards)
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results

The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) hosted its State Championships this weekend in Fresno. In tonight’s finals session, we saw a National High School Record fall. It came in the final girls event: the 400 free relay.

The record fell at the hands of St. Margarita’s Macky Hodges, Teia Salvino, Teagan O’Dell, and Justina Kozan, who were 4 of the top swimmers in the meet. Hodges, a junior, led the team off in 49.18, blowing away her previous personal best of 49.84. Salvino, a sophomore, split 49.20 on the 2nd leg, which was faster than the 49.34 she swam to win the individual 100 free earlier in the session. Then it was freshman O’Dell’s turn, and boy, did she deliver, throwing down a scorching 47.75 split on the 3rd leg. Kozan, the lone senior on the team, brought it home in 48.67, getting her hand on the wall in a final time of 3:14.80.

Just wow!!!!! @SMCHSswim 400 free relay posts a 3:14.80 to set the new national high school record. Splits
Hodges 49.18
Salvino 49.20
O'Dell 47.75
Kozan 48.67@OCVswimdive @SwimmingWorld @swimswamnews pic.twitter.com/I8aPQroX4m

— SMCHS Swim & Dive (@SMCHSswim) May 15, 2022

Firstly, the time absolutely obliterated the CIF State Meet Record of 3:19.56, which was set by St. Margarita in 2018. Additionally, St. Margarita’s time came in well under the previous National HS Record of 3:15.38, which was held by Indiana-based Carmel High School from the 2015 IHSAA Girls Championships. That relay featured future NCAA stars Amy Bilquist, Veronica Burchill, and Claire Adams. The Carmel relay stood as both the National HS Record and USA Swimming Girls 15-18 National Age Group Record.

Here is a split comparison between St. Margarita’s relay tonight and the former record-holding Carmel relay:

Splits	St. Margarita – 2022 CIF State Championships Finals	St. Margarita – 2022 CIF State Championships Finals	Carmel HS – 2015 IHSAA Girls State Championships Finals	Carmel HS – 2015 IHSAA Girls State Championships Finals
1st Leg	Macky Hodges	49.18	Veronica Burchill	48.48
2nd Leg	Teia Salvino	49.20	Claire Adams	48.68
3rd Leg	Teagan O’Dell	47.75	Kendall Smith	50.52
4th Leg	Justina Kozan	48.67	Amy Bilquist	47.70
Final Time		3:14.80		3:15.38

O’Dell was able to match Bilquist’s leg, while Kozan was able to match Adams’ from the 2015 relay. The thing that put St. Margarita over the edge was having all 4 of their splits under 50 seconds, while Carmel had the 50.52 on the 3rd leg from Kendall Smith.

Looking to the future, this relay could threaten the record again next year, as 3 of the members return. Replacing Kozan will prove difficult, since 48.6 splits are hard to come by, but, if the other 3 members are a little faster, that will ease the burden. St. Margarita freshman Gracyn Aquino won the ‘B’ final in the 100 free tonight with a 50.57, so she could potentially be the next swimmer up on the relay for next season.

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