ALLEN LEADS HOUGH WOMEN TO TITLE,GREEN HOPE WINS MEN’S CROWN IN 4A SWIMMING AND DIVING
CARY— Emily Allen helped lead Cornelius W.A. Hough to its second consecutive team title on Thursday night in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 4-A swimming and diving championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center.
Allen won both the 50 and the 100 freestyle events and swam the anchor legs on two victorious relay teams to lift Hough to the crown and earn Most Valuable Performer honors, Allen set new NCHSAA all-classification records in both her individual events with All-American Automatic times in both.
Hough scored 323 points to 236 for runner-up Cary Green Hope. Cary Panther Creek was third at 182, followed by Charlotte Providence (167), Greensboro Grimsley (160) and Cary (159). A total of 35 schools scored in the women’s meet.
It was the ninth time in the last 12 years that a Charlotte-Mecklenburg school won the NCHSAA state 4-A women’s crown, with Providence earning six of those between 2002 and ’09.
Hannah Moore of Green Hope captured top honors in both the 100 backstroke and the 500 free and also swam the leadoff leg on the first-place 200 medley relay team. She set a new all-classification record of 54.37 seconds in the 100 back, breaking the old mark but just .03 of a second.
South Mecklenburg’s Alexandra Martelle also took two individual titles, winning both the 100 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley.
Green Hope, which won a pair of relay events, captured the men’s championship by scoring 259 points, with Hough in second at 190. The Green Hope state title snapped a string of four consecutive crowns won by Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools on the men’s side.
South Mecklenburg was third with 175, followed by East Chapel Hill (168) and defending state champ Providence (157). There were 44 schools scoring points in the men’s meet.
Colin Ellington of Holly Springs was the MVP of the men’s meet. Ellington was a double winner, finishing first in both the 200 individual medley and the 100 free. He established a new all-classification state record in the 100 free of 44.87 seconds and had All-American Automatic times in both events.
John Manchester of Hough also swam to two individual titles, taking both the 100 backstroke and the 200 free.
The 3-A championships will be held on Friday 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
