ENLOE, PROVIDENCE CONTINUE DOMINANCE IN 4-A
RALEIGH – Two schools kept long winning strings intact, but it wasn’t easy at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 4-A swimming and diving championships at the Willis Casey Aquatic Center on the N.C. State campus on Saturday.
Raleigh Enloe won its ninth consecutive men’s team championship and Charlotte Providence rallied to capture its ninth women’s crown in the last 10 years and fifth in succession.
Enloe tallied 262 points to 178 for runner-up South Mecklenburg. Chapel Hill placed third with 172, followed by North Mecklenburg (163) and Raleigh Leesville Road (156).
Knightdale’s Matt Donch and Enloe’s Geoffrey Sanders were the co-Most Valuable Performers in the men’s meet, each with two titles.
It was the 11th consecutive year the 4-A women’s champion has come from Mecklenburg County. Raleigh Leesville Road in 1996 was the last team outside the Charlotte area to win the NCHSAA crown.
Providence had 239 points to win by six over second-place Enloe. Leesville Road was third with 173, with Chapel Hill (144) in fourth and Raleigh Athens Drive (127) in fifth.
The women’s meet went down to the final event, the 400 freestyle relay, and the Providence relay team was seeded sixth in the event. But the Panthers rallied to win the race and set a new state record in the process to take the team title.
Kirsten Smith of Athens Drive and Mandy Myers of Apex shared the top individual honor in the women’s championship, both winning two events.
CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC SWEEPS 3-A SWIMMING
HUNTERSVILLE — Charlotte Catholic continued its string of excellence by winning both the women’s and men’s championships in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s 3-A swimming and diving championships on Saturday at the Huntersville Family Fitness and Aquatic Center.
The Catholic men won their second straight 3-A title and third crown overall, with a 2-A title back in ’05. On the women’s side, Catholic earned its sixth consecutive state title covering two classifications.
In men’s action, Charlotte Catholic scored 237 points, 32 ahead of runner-up Southwest Guilford. Pfafftown Ronald Reagan was third with 181, followed by Asheville T.C. Roberson (137), Northwest Cabarrus (126), Asheville (125) and Hickory St. Stephens (119).
Wilson Fike’s Justin Eldridge and Eastern Wayne’s Mason Chenier shared the Most Valuable Performer award in the men’s championship. Eldridge took first place in both the 200 individual medley and the 500 free, while Chenier swept the titles in both the 50 and 100 free.
Charlotte Catholic rolled up 267 points in the women’s competion despite the efforts of meet MVP Rachel Wilson of Ronald Reagan, who helped her team to 204 points and the runner-up spot. Wilson took top honors in both the 200 free and the 100 back.
Waynesville Tuscola was third in the women’s standings with 176 points, led by co-MVP Anna Stringfellow. Stringfellow won both the 200 individual medley and the 500 free.
T.C. Roberson was fourth with 143 points, followed by Mooresville (136). Hickory (123) and a tie between R-S Central and St. Stephens with 118 each.
