CHAPEL HILL – Records fell by the bunches on Saturday night in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 4-A swimming and diving championships at Koury Natatorium on the University of North Carolina campus.
The depth by the Charlotte Providence women and the Raleigh Enloe men proved to be too much for the competition to overcome as they each captured team titles
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It was Enloe’s eighth consecutive NCHSAA state 4-A men’s team title while the Providence women won their third straight state championship and eighth in the last nine years.
Raleigh Enloe rolled up 344 points en route to victory, with South Mecklenburg in second with 231. Chapel Hill was third with 200.5 points, followed by Cary at 176.5 and East Chapel Hill with 160.
In women’s competition, Providence scored 271 points to 237 for runner-up Chapel Hill. Raleigh Enloe was third with 210, while Raleigh Leesville Road fourth was at 177 and South Mecklenburg fifth at 152.
A number of state records were shattered in the meet, with more than half the events seeing new marks. South Mecklenburg’s Ricky Berens was among the top performers by setting new standards in both the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly. His time of 47.33 seconds broke his own state record of 48.13 established last year and was just two-tenths of a second off the national high school record.
Raleigh Enloe’s Charlie Houchin set new records in both the 200 free and the 500 free, and he swam a leg on the Eagles’ 200 free relay team that established a new state record. Berens and Houchin shared the male Most Valuable Performer award.
One of the state’s longest standing records was also eclipsed. Knightdale’s Matt Donch completed the 100 free in 45.09, breaking a record set in 1989 by Raleigh Sanderson’s David Fox, who was later an Olympian.
Lauren Perdue of Greenville Rose set a new mark in the women’s 50 free at 23.68 seconds, and Kirsten Smith’s time of 2:01.08 in the 200 individual medley broke the existing record by over two seconds for the Raleigh Athens Drive swimmer. Smith was the MVP of the women’s meet.
Kaleigh Gomes of Providence won the 100 free in state-record time and also swam a leg on the victorious 200 free relay foursome, which set a new state record.
The diving was held on Friday night, and in men’s competition freshman Nick McCrory of East Chapel Hill was the winner with an all-time record score of 601.90, almost 100 points ahead of the previous mark.
