Ross Dant, Thomas Hamlet Set State Records as NCSSM Wins at North Carolina Boys 1-2A Championships

$NC School of Science and Math$

Photo Courtesy: NCHSAA Twitter (@NCHSAA)

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The 2019 North Carolina High School Boys’ State Swimming and Diving 1-2A State Championships took place on Saturday, February 9 at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary, N.C.

Newton-Conover’s Ross Dant set a new state and class record in the 500 free, while Bishop McGuinness’ Thomas Hamlet did the same in the 100 back. Community School of Davidson’s Baylor Nelson rewrote the class 1-2A record book in the 200 IM as well.

NC School of Science and Math won the team title while Hamlet earned the meet’s Most Outstanding Swimmer award.

Click here for full results.

Complete team scores are not available at this time.

The meet began as Croatan’s 4×50 medley relay squad of Will Barker (23.06), Jake McCabe (26.75), Matthew McCray (25.35) and Colby Loveless (21.67) combined to post a two-second victory in 1:36.83 ahead of Community School of Davidson (1:38.87) and Christ the King (1:39.51).

Nash Central’s Lance Norris came out on top in the 200 free with a time of 1:41.55. A half-second behind him was Lincoln Charter’s Neal Stratton in 1:43.01 and Durham School of the Arts’ Jay Baker finished third in 1:44.43.

Nelson had an impressive 200 IM: he won in 1:50.59, setting a new Class 1-2A mark after crushing his old record of 1:51.99 he set during prelims. Lincoln Charter’s Zackary Whipple was second in 1:55.10 followed by Eno River’s Matt Shanahan in 1:57.16 for third.

Tim Connery of Christ the King splashed-and-dashed his way to a win in the 50 free, stopping the clock in a quick 20.49 to come with three-hundredths of the class mark of 20.46. NC School of Science and Math’s George Heidkamp (21.50) and Loveless (21.60) finished second and third, respectively.

Hamlet flew to the top spot in the 100 fly, getting his hands to the wall first in 48.80. After an impressive 200 IM, Nelson also snuck under the 50-second mark in 49.83 for second as Fred T. Foard’s Ethan McCosh took third in 50.83.

Shortly after leading off the winning medley relay, Barker was back in the pool to earn the individual gold in the 100 free with a speedy 46.31. Heidkamp again took the silver medal in 46.82 and bronze went to Salisbury’s Roarke Burton in 47.75.

Dant lit the pool on fire in the 500 free: he won in a blazing 4:18.70, besting the field by 14 seconds. The NC State commit’s time destroyed his own 1-2A class mark of 4:26.97 he set last year, and also set a new North Carolina state record after breaking the old one of 4:20.67 set by Jack Walker at the 4A Championships. Norris was second in 4:32.23 and McCosh was a distant third in 4:43.24.

Emile Charles (22.19), Jason Li (22.42), Andrew Eberhardt (22.66) and Heidkamp (20.98) gave NC School of Science and Math a relay victory after winning the 4×50 free relay in 1:28.25. Bishop McGuinness (1:29.27) was second and Lincoln Charter (1:30.19) finished third.

Hamlet added the 100 back title to his 100 fly win in impressive fashion. Also committed to NC State, his winning time of 47.82 was faster than his own 1-2A class mark of 48.58 he set during prelims, and also was faster than David Wahlen’s 48.44 set in the morning at the 4A Championships. His future Wolfpack teammate Dant was second in 49.16 and Barker was third in 50.05

Voyager Academy’s Adam Cheifetz added a victory in the 100 breast after getting his hands to the wall the fastest in 57.70. Second went to Raleigh Charter’s Jason Starbuck (57.79) and third went to Lake Norman Charter’s Harrison Rowe (58.81).

Pine Lake Prep’s Austin Campbell dove to first on the 1-meter board after posting a final score of 484.70. Second went to his teammate Kolbein Bjugan with 449.70 points and third belonged to Davis Hutchinson of Lincoln Charter with a final score of 385.15

Carrboro swept all three relays as they concluded the meet with a 4×100 free relay victory as Carpenter (5289), Costley (53.54), Baca (54.42) and Merry (52.80) touched in 3:3365. Pine Lake Prep finished second in 3:37.90 as Lincoln Charter completed the top three in 3:41.34.

NC School of Science and Math’s Charles (48.21), Matthew Congiusta (49.21), Jack Healy (49.82) and Keidkamp (46.55) concluded the meet with another relay win, this time taking the 4×100 free relay in 3:13.79. Pine Lake Prep was second in 3:14.63 and Bishop McGuinnes was third in 3:17.91.

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