CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC WOMEN, CARDINAL GIBBONS MEN WINAS RECORDS FALL IN NCHSAA 3-A SWIMMING
CARY— Records fell all over the place as Charlotte Catholic rolled to its eighth consecutive 3-A women’s title on Friday night in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 3-A swimming and diving championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center.
Catholic rolled to victory with a whopping 469 points in earning its 12th straight NCHSAA crown over two different classifications. Waxhaw Marvin Ridge was second with 258, followed by Chapel Hill (228), Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons (184) and Concord Jay Robinson (133). A total of 30 schools scored in the women’s competition.
Nora McCullagh and Lauren Rhodes were double individual winners for the state champs, with McCullagh winning the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke and Rhodes taking the 100 free and 200 free. Rhodes shattered her own state 3-A mark in the 200 by well over two seconds, in a time of 1:47.98.
McCullagh was named the Most Valuable Performer in the women’s meet, as she achieved All-American Automatic times in both of her individual events and set a new all-classification record in the 50 free with a blistering 22.92 seconds. She also swam on two victorious relay teams.
In all, the Cougar women set nine new state 3-A records, including five all-classification marks, and won all but two events. The Cougars set an all-classification record in the 200 medley relay with a winning time of 1:45.52, established a new mark in the 200 free relay by over two seconds, and set a new 400 free relay mark record. Catholic’s Elsa Welshofer sprinted to a time of 54.69 seconds in the 100 fly, another all-classification record.
Cardinal Gibbons held on to win its fourth consecutive state 3-A men’s crown and sixth in a row over two classifications, led by Bailey Maloney. Maloney, who took top honors in both the 50 free and 100 free and swam the anchor leg on the record-setting 200 free relay team and the winning 400 free relay, was the MVP of the men’s championship.
Gibbons recorded 312 points to 283 for Charlotte Catholic, followed by Chapel Hill (212), Jay Robinson (149) and Marvin Ridge (132). A total of 40 schools recorded points in the men’s meet.
Dalton Shaw of Greenville D.H. Conley established a new 3-A record in the 200 IM in 1:51.63, breaking an eight-year old mark previously held by Southwest Guilford’s Chris Spooner.
The 4-A championships were held on Thursday and then the 1-A/2-A schools will compete on Saturday, all at the Triangle Aquatics Center.
All American Swim Supply serves as a sponsor of the championships, and the Raleigh Sports Consortium is the primary host sponsor.
COMPLETE RESULTS CAN BE FOUND UNDER CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS (RIGHT SIDE OF FRONT PAGE), UNDER SWIMMING
