North Carolina 1A/2A High School State Championships

By Brian Savard

RALEIGH, North Carolina, February 6. BASKETBALL isn't the only hot ticket in North Carolina right now, as North Carolina kicked off its high school state meets with the 1A/2A championships.

Team Scores
Cardinal Gibbons swept both the men's and the women's team titles for the first time in school history. The women are two-time defending champions while the men had never won a title before the 2008 championship meet.

The Cardinal Gibbons women ran away with the title, scoring a meet-high 416 points. Elkin placed second with 163 points while Carrboro took third (151).

A closer meet ensued on the men's side, as the Cardinal Gibbons men edged Hibriten by a 313-263 score. Carrboro claimed the third-place honor with 168 points.

Women's Individual Results
Cardinal Gibbons nailed down wins in all three relay events. The 200 medley relay quartet of Kristyn Repke, Kirsten Esplin, Allison Schult and Heather Ahmed cruised to a gold-medal finish, clocking a 1:54.74. Cardinal Gibbons eked out a 200 freestyle win by .06 over Elkin as Anne Thelen, Ahmed, Taylor Edmonds and Nina Mascia won in 1:42.94. The Cardinal Gibbons 400 freestyle relay (Mascia, Esplin, Cameron Figures and Repke) went out with a bang, winning by nine seconds (3:41.84) and nearly missing the 1A/2A state meet record.

Kelly Ann Baird of West Davidson placed first in two events and set a record in one. Baird clocked an All-American consideration time in the 200 freestyle with a 1:51.86 before eclipsing her former 500 freestyle mark of 4:56.72, which she set at the 2007 state meet, with a blistering 4:54.75.

South Davidson's Caroline Smith picked up wins in each of her individual outings as well. She clocked a first-place time in the 200 IM (2:07.50) as well as in the 100 backstroke (57.92).

Julianna Prim of Starmount rounded out the list of two-event victors. Prim topped the field in both the 50 freestyle (24.72) and the 100 butterfly (57.28).

Men's Individual Results
While Cardinal Gibbons claimed the team title, mainly through its depth, Hibriten headlined the meet, setting two relay records. The 200 medley relay comprised of Stephen Bottoms, Kyle Hites, Ted Esch and Kevin Chaung eclipsed the 2006 Mount Airy relay's standard (1:45.22) with a 1:44.93. Hites, Gray Beane, Esch and Bottoms teamed up in the 200 freestyle relay, clocking a record-setting 1:32.86. Durham School of the Arts set the former mark of 1:33.66 in 2002.

Kenneth Ryan of Carrboro took down a pair of record holders in the 50 freestyle when he won with a 22.04 time. Brian Oleniace of the Durham School of Arts and Ben Stout of Western Guilford tied for first place in 2002 with a 22.23, serving as co-holders of the former class record. Ryan also won the 100 backstroke (54.27).

Gavin Spake of West Davidson edged out the field in both longer-distance freestyle events. He clocked a 1:46.08 in the 200 freestyle and a 4:45.73 in the 500 freestyle.

Hites nabbed first in his events as well. He took the 200 IM in 2:02.49 before returning in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:01.69 clocking. His time erased the former class standard of 1:03.59 that Ryan Barrington of Thomas Jefferson Classical set in 2005.

Diving Results
Siobhan Monroe of Cardinal Gibbons claimed the gold medal in the four-person female diving field, scoring a 273.55. Kayla Boyd of West Henderson took second (267.30) while Sarah Hubbard of Carrboro placed third (173.80).

Josh Ivens of West Henderson topped the six-man diving competition with a 296.35 score. Ivens' teammate, Josh Nelson, placed second with a 275.40 score. Colbey Isabel of Carrboro took third (247.95).

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x