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CARY – The Marvin Ridge High School girls and Chapel Hill High School boys successfully defended their team titles at the North Carolina 3A State Swimming and Diving Championships this past weekend at the Triangle Aquatic Center.
Marvin Ridge dominated the girls’ meet, scoring 383 points to top Cardinal Gibbons (257 points) and Chapel Hill (216 points). On the boys’ side, Chapel Hill registered 341 points to take home its second straight title, with Cardinal Gibbons (301.5 points) and Marvin Ridge (220.5 points) in second and third.
Cardinal Gibbons opened up the meet with a half second victory in the girls’ 200 medley relay, with Haley Allen, Olivia Allen, Emily Dykstra and Sammy Stone out-racing Marvin Ridge’s Caroline Hauder, Alex Bonfilio, Abby House and Ashley Baum, 1:48.34 to 1:48.82. Chapel Hill’s Claire DeSelm, Sarah Taekman, Uma Knaven and Paige Jones put together a 1:50.24 to finish third.
Two teams swam under Cardinal Gibbons’ 3A state record of 1:37.95 in the boys’ medley relay final, led by Cardinal Gibbons’ quartet of Christopher Raymond, Noah Cairns, Shane Humphrey and Cothalee Watko. They combined efforts to post a 1:37.15, just over half a second in front of Northern Guilford’s Luke Humphrey, Jacques Bene, Jordan Reed and Jonathan Wachendorfer (1:37.67). Chapel Hill’s Ang Li, Jordan Ren, Patrick O’Donnell and Emery Harwell dropped three seconds from prelims to finish third in 1:40.10.
In the girls’ 200 free final, three swimmers separated themselves from the pack right away and wound up finishing in the top three spots. Hickory’s Emmaline Peterson led the way in 1:52.11, with St. Stephens’ Maria Turcanu (1:52.30) and Cardinal Gibbons’ Emily Dykstra (1:52.33) right on her heels.
Central Davidson’s Lucas Rhodes held onto his top seed in the boys’ 200 free final, holding off Marvin Ridge’s Jeffrey Murray by about half a second, 1:42.88 to 1:43.42. West Henderson’s Jake Johnson rounded out the top three in 1:44.71.
Chapel Hill’s Claire DeSelm raced to victory in the girls’ 200 IM final, chopping five seconds off her prelim time to take first in 2:04.84. Cardinal Gibbons’ Haley Allen, the top seed after prelims, secured second in 2:06.30, while Marvin Ridge’s Alex Bonfilio claimed third in 2:08.60.
Connor Blandford gave Corinth-Holders its first top three finish of the meet in the boys’ 200 IM final as he edged St. Stephens’ Jacob Queen for the title, 1:53.95 to 1:54.48. Piedmont’s Jay Austin dropped four seconds from prelims to join them on the podium in 1:56.42.
North Lincoln’s McKenzie Weed moved up from fifth to first in the girls’ 50 free final with a huge time drop and final time of 24.31. She barely out-touched top seed Jennifer Jackson from Nash Central for the title, as Jackson posted a 24.33. Marvin Ridge’s Lexie White came in third with a 24.44.
After registering the only sub-22 second swim of the day in prelims, Concord’s Tucker Wall maintained his first place ranking in finals with a 21.64. Chapel Hill’s Jake Pudik joined him under 22 with a 21.83 for second, while Central Davidson’s Connor Sturgill rounded out the top three in 22.08.
Marvin Ridge took the top two spots in the girls’ 1-meter diving final, with Nikki Canale smashing the overall and 3A state record with 511.60 points. Carrie Knoeber had set the previous state record of 491.35 in 1996, while Erin Bailey set the 3A record of 471.78 in 1999. Canale’s teammate, Sara Maleski, also broke the 3A record with 477.50 points. East Gaston’s Delanie Knight rounded out the top three with 427.22 points.
Cuthbertson’s Jesse Mazen had the top score in the boys’ 1-meter with 380.80 points, more than 80 points better than second place finisher Daniel Margolis of Chapel Hill (298.90). Saim Alam of Asheville came in third with 285.65 points.
Chapel Hill’s Claire DeSelm picked up her second state title of the day in the 100 fly, just missing Elsa Welshofer’s 3A record of 54.69 with a 55.39. Cardinal Gibbons’ Haley Allen touched second in 57.51, followed by Marvin Ridge’s Abby House in 57.66.
Jordan Reed of Northern Guilford got to the wall first in the boys’ 100 fly final, successfully defending his top seed with a 51.34. Reed was the only swimmer under 52 in prelims, but was joined in finals by West Carteret’s Patrick Edge, who popped a 51.76. Marvin Ridge earned another top three finish with Jeffrey Murray in third at 52.18.
Five swimmers finished with a 53 in the girls’ 100 free prelims, but in finals Hickory’s Anna Durak separated herself from the field with the only 51 of the meet, a 51.74. Second and third place finishers Lexie White of Marvin Ridge and McKenzie Weed of North Lincoln each posted a 52 to finish on the podium, with White coming in at 52.59 and Weed touching in 52.85.
Jake Pudik of Chapel Hill dominated the boys’ 100 free final, winning by nearly a second in 47.47, just off his prelim performance of 47.30. South Iredell’s Colson Zucker moved up from fourth to second with a 48.44, just in front of Concord’s Tucker Wall (48.57).
Hickory’s Emmaline Peterson doubled up in the 200 and 500 freestyles at the meet, crushing the 3A record in the 500 free in the process with a 4:50.11. She lowered her own mark of 4:54.42, set last year. St. Stephens grabbed the next two spots, with teammates Maria Turcanu (5:01.58) and Sophia Cherkez (5:02.84) solidifying second and third.
Cardinal Gibbons’ Noah Cairns demolished the field in the boys’ 500 free, finishing more than 12 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. Cairns stopped the clock at 4:32.55, with Central Davidson’s Lucas Rhodes in second at 4:44.77. Rhodes finished one one-hundredth in front of Cardinal Gibbons’ Cothalee Watko, who touched in 4:44.78.
Ashley Baum, Samantha Bitter, Kate Marshall and Lexie White combined efforts to post a 1:39.50 in the 200 free relay and bring the state title home to Marvin Ridge. Hickory claimed second, thanks to Anna Durak, Lauren Ferner, Emmaline Peterson and Maly Shores’ 1:40.64. Cox Hill’s Madison Holland, Madison Greenhall, Bailey Minnick and Cathleen Rogers rounded out the top three finishers in 1:41.92.
Chapel Hill and Concord treated the crowd to a great finish in the boys’ 200 free relay, as Chapel Hill’s Jake Pudik, Christopher Eron, David Batson and Emery Harwell out-dueled Concord’s Wade Bestler, Robbie Epler, Sam Jones and Tucker Wall, 1:28.36 to 1:28.65. Peter Dwyer, Noah Carroll, Daniel Canale and Jeffrey Murray kept Marvin Ridge within striking distance with a 1:29.55 for third.
Caroline Hauder of Marvin Ridge proved to be the top backstroker in the field, topping the championship final of the 100 back in 56.21. Hauder overtook top seed Michaela Carter of Corinth-Holders, who touched in 57.82. Forestview’s Cassie Ward came in third at 58.47.
West Henderson’s Jake Johnson and Corinth-Holders’ Connor Blandford finished within .11 of each other in prelims of the 100 back, and the two were close again in finals with Johnson touching first in 51.83 and Blandford taking second in 52.03. Northern Guilford’s Jordan Reed also finished under 53 with a 52.72 for third.
Minutes after winning the 100 back, Marvin Ridge’s Caroline Hauder returned to the pool to set a new 3A record in the 100 breast with a 1:03.79, lowering Christen McDonough’s 2010 record of 1:03.82 by .03. Cedar Ridge’s Rebecca Churchill finished a distant second in 1:06.16, with Forestview’s Cassie Adams in third at 1:07.00.
Noah Cairns of Cardinal Gibbons added a win in the 100 breast to his victory in the 500 free earlier in the meet with a 58.11 in finals. Jacob Queens of St. Stephens joined him as the only swimmer under 1:00 with a 59.73 for second. Colson Zucker of South Iredell came in third at 1:00.47.
Marvin Ridge iced their girls’ team title in the 400 free relay thanks to Lexie White, Alex Bonfilio, Abby House and Caroline Hauder’s 3:32.56. Cardinal Gibbons tracked down second with Sammy Stone, Haley Allen, Adelaide Cairns and Emily Dykstra putting up a 3:34.89. Hickory’s Maly Shores, Emmaline Peterson, Lauren Ferner and Anna Durak rounded out the top three in 3:37.09.
The Chapel Hill boys wrapped up their team title with a win in the final event as well as Jake Pudik, Christopher Eron, Ang Li and Patrick O’Donnell topped the championship heat in 3:14.44. Marvin Ridge’s Austin McInerny, Adam Fisher, Daniel Canale and Jeffrey Murray out-touched Cardinal Gibbons’ JD Humphrey, Tom Hubbard, Cothalee Watko and Noah Cairns for second, 3:16.82 to 3:16.93.
North Carolina 3A State Swimming and Diving Championships – Results
Ten bucks sez Chapel Hill’s Claire DeSelm has a rather close relationship w/ current University of North women’s and men’s swim coach Rich — like her dad!