CARY, NC – The North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s 3A State Championship Meet was a historical and exciting night at Triangle Aquatic Center. Western Alamance’s Noah Henderson jolted the arena into a frenzy with his record-setting performance in the 50 Freestyle, posting the first NCHSAA State Meet time under 20 seconds in the history of the event. The Marvin Ridge men’s team nabbed their third straight team state championship while the Charlotte Catholic women held off Weddington to win their second straight title.
Most Outstanding Performers & Sportsmanship Awards
Noah Henderson claimed the 3A Championship’s Most Outstanding Performer award for the third consecutive year. The Western Alamance star bolted to the first sub-20 second time in the 50 Yard Freestyle in the History of the NCHSAA State Championship Meet. His time of 19.92 set a new state record, breaking the record of 20.33 seconds set just a day prior in the 4A Championship by Reagan’s Max Edwards. It also broke the 3A Classification record set by Chris Compton in 1990 of 20.44, which up until yesterday had been the all classification meet record. Henderson also claimed the 100 Butterfly, posting a new 3A Classification record of 47.30 seconds to take down Eugene Godsoe of Southeast Guilford’s time of 48.49 seconds set in 2006.
Ellie VanNote from Marvin Ridge claimed the 3A Women’s Most Outstanding Performer Award. VanNote was victorious in the 200 Freestyle and the 100 Butterfly winning both events with automatic All-American qualifying times. VanNote finished the 200 Freestyle in 1:48.65 with a time of 53.92 seconds in the 100 Butterfly.
The NCHSAA is committed to promoting good sportsmanship at all of our events and has partnered with the North Carolina Farm Bureau to recognize two individuals at each championship with the NC Farm Bureau Sportsmanship Awards. The winners in the 3A Men’s Championships were Michael Cotton from Chapel Hill and Elias Gonzalez from Marvin Ridge. The winners in the 3A Women’s Championships were Mattie McFee from Charlotte Catholic and Brooke Conneen from Weddington.
Men’s Championship Recap – Marvin Ridge sails to third straight team title
The Mavericks had no trouble blitzing past the competition for the school’s third straight Men’s Swimming & Diving Championship. The Mavericks outpaced second-place Chapel Hill by a 285-201 count. Charlotte Catholic was third with 168 points.
The Mavericks claimed two of the Championship’s three relay events, both in 3A Meet Record times. Boyd Poelke combined with Josh Stablein, Connor Charrette and Charles Rothenberger to nab the 200 Freestyle Relay in 1:26.05, trimming three-hundredths of a second of the record time set by the Mavericks relay a season ago in the event. Then Poelke, Stablein and Rothenberger worked with Nicholas Piscitelli to crush the 3A meet record in the 400 Freestyle Relay, clocking in at 3:08.66, besting the time of 3:10.82 set by the Mavericks’ relay squad a year ago.
Chapel Hill saw Sam Hoover earn a pair of event wins. He was the only individual other than Henderson to claim victory in two individual events in the meet. Hoover set a new all classification meet record in the 100 Freestyle touching in 44.62 seconds and clipping the record set by Jack Messenger from Broughton in 2017 when he finished in 44.64 seconds. Hoover later claimed the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 56.06 seconds.
Women’s Championship Recap – Charlotte Catholic picks up second straight as VanNote and Flickinger star individually
Charlotte Catholic did not see many first place finishes, but they did manage a lot of top three finishes as they held off Weddington by a 267-263 count. Marvin Ridge finished third with 215 points.
Charlotte Catholic’s 200 Medley Relay squad opened the championship with a victory in the day’s first event. The win by Madeline Menkhaus, Mattie Mcfee, Victoria Dichak and Olivia Rhodes was the only win for Charlotte Catholic Women on the day as the group touched the wall in 1:47.33. The Championship was Charlotte Catholic’s 14thteam title on the women’s side.
Marvin Ridge’s VanNote and Weddington’s Maddy Flickinger starred in the meet, each earning a pair of individual victories. Flickinger won the 200 Individual Medley with a time of 2:02.23 going on to win the 100 Backstroke in 55.05 seconds later in the meet. She also teamed up with Kylie Yoder, Kelsey Tolchin and Katie Corbi to set a new 3A meet record in the 200 Freestyle Relay as the group touched in 1:34.39. Later Flickinger, Yoder and Corbi paired with Ashley Martinson to edge Charlotte Catholic in the 400 Freestyle Relay. The Warriors quartet touched in 3:27.56 in the meet’s final event.
