During an interview on New Year’s Day, Katie Belle Sikes said one of her remaining goals in her high school career was to break the state record in the 50-yard freestyle.
Just over a month later, she’s done it.
On Friday afternoon, Sikes finished with a time of 22.88 seconds, winning the 50 meter freestyle and beating the 3A state record of 22.92 seconds held by Nora McCullagh of Charlotte Catholic set in 2013. Sikes also automatically earned All-American status. The National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association lists 23.17 seconds as the automatic All-American benchmark. Last year, Sikes earned All-American consideration at the 3A State Championships.
Sikes came away with two individual championships at the 3A Central Regional Swimming Championships, held at the Greensboro AquatIc Center across from the Greensboro Coliseum. For the second straight year, Sikes won the 100 yard freestyle gold medal, finishing at 50.99 seconds. Asheboro’s Megan Becker came in second at 53.87 seconds. Piper White of Orange qualified for the 3A State Championships in the 100 by finishing sixth.
For the first time, Sikes won a regional championship in a relay event. She teamed with Piper White, Riley White and Ainsley Rasinske to finish 1st in the 200 yard freestyle relay at 1:44.50. It was a school record. Sikes, White, White and Rasinske also advanced to the state championships in the 200 yard medley relay with a second place finish. They recorded a time of 1:56.43, just .12-of-a-second behind the Durham School of the Arts’ team of Alexis Krzyzaniak, Claire Ramsey, Jordan Marley and Megan Healey.
Overall, Sikes has now won six regional championships at Orange. Sikes, a junior, won the 50 yard freestyle in her freshman year. Last year, she captured the 50 and 100 yard freestyle.
Sikes, the first female swimmer from Orange High to win a state championship, will look to repeat during the 3A State Championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary on Saturday.
Sikes committed to swim at the University of Georgia in October. Last week, Sikes was named the Central Carolina Conference Swimmer of the Year after she won four gold medals at the CCC Championships at the Orange County Sportsplex. She now has five individual school records.
Sikes qualified for all eight individual events for regionals, but was only allowed to compete in two of them.
Overall, the Orange women’s squad finished fourth, its best-ever showing in the team standings. Orange came away with 202 points. Carrboro won the team regional championship with 338 points.
The Cedar Ridge women’s team finished 10th with 99 points.
Cedar Ridge sophomore Sophia Stinnett qualified for the state championships in the 200 yard freestyle and the 500 yard freestyle. Stinnett came in fourth at 2:02.84 in the 200. Northwood’s Abigail Emrich, who won the CCC Championship last week, came away with the 200 freestyle regional title at 1:56.58. In the 500 freestyle, Stinnett finished third at 5:26.76 seconds. Avery Shuping of Carrboro took the regional title.
Another Cedar Ridge sophomore, Quinn McCrimmon, earned a spot in the state championships in the 200 yard individual medley. McCrimmon finished third after she touched the wall at 2:23.61. Carrboro’s Maya Lambert took 1st place at 2:09.75.
Cedar Ridge’s 400 yard freestyle relay team also qualified for the State Championships. McCrimmon, Stinnett, Hala Zafar and Abbygale Pearce finished fourth at 4:11.57. Northwood’s Bianca Perez, Holly Thesing, Lauren Emrich and Abigail Emrich took the regional title at 3:53.12.
Orange’s Riley White qualified for the state championships in four events. In addition to the two relay races, she finished second in the 100 yard butterfly at 59.71 seconds. White had the lead after 50 yards, but Labmbert beat her for first place at 58.16 seconds.
In the 100 yard backstroke, White finished with the bronze medal at 1:01.65. Jordan Marley of the Durham School of the Arts finished first at 1:00.29.