The biggest test in swimming’s 500 yard freestyle is durability.

Speed is nice, but first you have to last.

Cedar Ridge’s Sophia Stinnett proved her endurance once again by winning the 500 yard freestyle in her final trip to the Central Regional championships. On Saturday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, Stinnett won her third career regional championship, finishing at 5:24.22. In a race that was neck-and-neck most of the way, Stinnett repeated as the 500 regional champion by beating out Carrboro’s Avery Shuping, who touched the wall at 5:26.48.

While Katie Belle Sikes is now swimming at the University of Georgia, Orange junior Piper White managed to keep the 50 yard and 100 yard regional championships in the Panther family. After Sikes won four consecutive 50 yard freestyle regional championships, White plopped herself down inside throne that Sikes vacated.

White captured her first regional championship with a time of 25.04 seconds, beating Ledford’s Parker Ridge. Later, White won the 100 yard freestyle at 54.33 seconds, finishing ahead of Carrboro freshman Eva Dziuba.

After winning the Central Conference championship last week, Cedar Ridge finished 2nd in the regional team standings at 280 points. Carrboro, which has won five state championships in the last six years, captured another regional team championship with 441 points.

“I was really proud of Sophia,” said Cedar Ridge swimming coach Amanda Jones. “It was a really fun race to watch. Sophia pulled away in the final 150 yards. It was really exciting to see her pull away at the end.”

In the 100 yard backstroke, Stinnett finished 2nd in the tightest race of the day. Stinnett, the defending regional champions, fell three-hundreths-of-a-second shy of defending her title. Carrboro freshman Annabelle Gangloff finished first at 1:01.83, while Stinnett came in at 1:01.86.

Cedar Ridge’s 200 yard freestyle relay team of Stinnett, Quinn McCrimmon, Hala Zafar and Margaret Payton broke the school record in the 200 yard freestyle relay. Stinnett, McCrimmon, Zafar and Payton claimed the regional championship at 1:45.88. That shattered the previous mark, set last year, by five seconds.

Stinnett, McCrimmon, Payton and Natalie Kunz broke their own school record for the third time this season in the 200 yard medley relay, finishing at 1:57.66. That broke the previous record by 5.67 seconds. It was good enough for a second place finish behind Union Pines’ Ava Milkowich, Claire Weld, Rebecca Kangas and Nyah Tranel, who registered a 1:55.73. Cedar Ridge still qualified for the state championships.

It was the best showing by Cedar Ridge as a 3A team in the regional championships. Stinnett and McCrimmon, the senior co-Captains, took the reigns for a team that reached the top of the Central Conference this year.

“Sophia and Quinn are definitely leaders in their own regard,” Jones said. “I think they do a really good job behind the blocks getting their younger teammates really excited before we swim. The other two swimmers on the relay team, one is a freshman and the other is a sophomore. They do a good job making them comfortable enough to swim in such a high pressure situation.”

Orange’s relay team of Addison Moore, Ainsley Rasinske, Zoe Jones and Piper White finished 4th at 1:57.84.

Payton earned her first trip to the state championships in the 200 yard freestyle as she finished 2nd at 2:05.51. Carrboro’s Shuping earned the regional title at 2:03.77. Orange junior Ainsley Rasinske earned a trip to the state championships with a 4th place finish, touching the wall at 2:07.37.

McCrimmon qualified for the state championships in two events. She finished 2nd in the 100 yard butterfly at 1:00.92. Southern Alamance freshman Madisyn Upton finished first with a time of 57.00.

McCrimmon also came in third in the 200 yard individual medley at 2:20.24. Upton claimed her second regional title at 2:10.36, while Carrboro’s Gangloff came in second at 2:16.06.

Orange senior Lily Howard finished 5th in the Central Regional diving championships with 247.50 points. Western Alamance’s Michaela Bentley took the regional title at 364 points, beating the runner-up by 39 points.

 

 

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