CARY – The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) held the 1A/2A State Swimming & Diving Championships at Triangle Aquatic Center with Carrboro women and Pine Lake Prep men capturing team state championships on an evening that saw three state meet records fall. Carrboro women grabbed their second straight team title while Pine Lake Prep’s men earned the program’s first team state championship.
Women’s Championship Recap – CSD’s Nelson completes a pair of four-peats, Carrboro claims second-straight team title
Emme Nelson from Community School of Davidson claimed the Most Outstanding Swimmer for the women’s meet. Nelson touched first in two events and participated on a victorious relay team. She and her 200 Medley Relay teammates Katie Tolone, Eliana White and Meredith Tucker won the meet’s opening event in a time of 1:48.18 as Nelson swam the second leg for the squad. Nelson capped off her high school career winning the 200 Individual Medley and 100 Breaststroke. She won the 200 IM for the fourth time in her career, touching in 2:03.49 and cruising to the victory by over four seconds. She also won the 100 Breaststroke for the fourth time in her career, edging the field with a time of 1:02.81 for her final high school swim.
Carrboro won two of the meet’s three relay events. The Jaguars team of Emily Carpenter, Lucy Carroll, Lindy Bilden and Kate Hegland combined to win the 200 and 400 Freestyle Relay events. The quartet touched in 1:38.13 to win the 200 Free Relay, racing past second place Community School of Davidson. Then in the final women’s race of the night, the foursome blitzed past the field by more than five seconds, touching in 3:33.54. Bilden also managed to win the individual title in the 50 Freestyle, posting a time of 23.65 seconds.
Emily Knorr from Salisbury also won a pair of individual events. Knorr captured the 200 Freestyle in 1:50.56, holding off Ede Kosik from Voyager Academy. Then Knorr dominated the 500 Freestyle, winning the event for the second straight year by posting a time of 4:52.40, over three seconds clear of the field.
Men’s Championship Recap – Four records fall as Pine Lake Prep men nab program’s first team title
Timothy Connery from Christ the King High School was named the Most Outstanding Swimmer for the men’s competition. Connery set two new state meet records. Connery nipped the 100 Freestyle state record with a time of 44.18 seconds, eclipsing the mark of 44.62 seconds set just last year in the 3A meet by Chapel Hill’s Sam Hoover. Then in the 100 Breaststroke final, Connery powered to a time of 53.65 seconds, crushing the previous state record of 54.47 seconds set by Hough’s Will Chan in the 2017 4A Final.
Community School of Davidson’s Baylor Nelson set the first state meet record of the day, racing to a new record in the 200 Individual Medley. Nelson won the event for the second year in a row and posted a time of 1:47.17, which trimmed the record of 1:48.16 set by Matt Houser from J.H. Rose in 2009. Nelson also earned a state title in the 100 Butterfly, touching in 48.76 seconds.
Pine Lake Prep capped off the night, putting an exclamation point on the program’s first team state championship by winning the 400 Freestyle Relay. It was Pine Lake Prep’s only event win of the Championships. Nathan Adams, Deaven Holder, Nathan Thornbury and A.J. Das combined to win the race for Pine Lake Prep, touching in 3:13.06.
The Croatan 200 Freestyle Relay team established a new 1A/2A State Meet Record. Colby Loveless, Jack McCabe, Matthew McCray and Will Barker combined to post a time of 1:27.07, snipping the record of 1:27.15 set by the Carrboro quartet Caleb Camp, Justin Morrell, Sam Strosnider, and Chris Gondek in 2012.
North Carolina Farm Bureau Insurance Sportsmanship Awards
The NCHSAA and North Carolina Farm Bureau Insurance Company are committed to recognizing and promoting outstanding sportsmanship. We award two Sportsmanship Awards at each State Championship Event to deserving members of championship teams, as selected by their coaches. The 2020 1A/2A Women’s Swimming & Diving Sportsmanship Award winners are Lucy Carroll from Carrboro and Chloe Harris from Lincoln Charter. The 2020 1A/2A Men’s Swimming & Diving Sportsmanship Award winners are Nathan Thornburg from Pine Lake Prep and Trey Hester from Raleigh Charter.
