Cedar Ridge Swimming

There’s a long checklist of goals for several Orange swimmers as the postseason meets get underway this week.

Junior Katie Belle Sikes managed to check another off in her unrivaled Orange career in the Lady Panthers’ final dual meet of the regular season at the Orange County Sportsplex last Thursday night. Sikes became the first Orange female swimmer to qualify for all eight individual events for the Central Regional championships. In a dual meet against Cedar Ridge and Walter Williams, Sikes won the 200 yard freestyle. She touched the wall at 1:56.81.

Sikes, who recently committed to swim at the University of Georgia, can swim in only two individual events in regionals, which will be held February 3 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. Sikes has already claimed two regional championships and a state championship in the 50-yard freestyle in her career.

The Orange women defeated Cedar Ridge 99-66 and also defeated Walter Williams 110-24. The Cedar Ridge women defeated Walter Williams 110-26.

The men’s swimming meet was headlined by Cedar RIdge junior Nikhil Agans setting the school record in the 100 yard backstroke. Agains punched his ticket to Greensboro by winning the event at 59.25, over three seconds ahead of the previous record which had stood for three years. Earlier in the night, Agans qualified for regionals in the 100 yard freestyle, finishing first with a time of 51.17 seconds.

Orange senior Even Phillips qualified for regionals in two more events. Phillips won the 100 yard breaststroke at 1:05.07, finishing ahead of teammate Nick Baczara. Phillips also won the 200 yard individual medley at 2:11.18. Baczara also qualified for regionals in the individual medley with a time of 2:18.67, good enough for second place on the night.

Earlier this season, Phillips qualified for regionals in the 50 yard freestyle, the 200 yard freestyle, the 100 yard butterfly and the 100 yard backstroke.

Orange Sophomore Luke Roman finished the regular season with a victory in the 100 yard butterfly at 58.51 seconds. Roman also won the 50 yard freestyle with 24.28, just shy of automatically qualifying for regionals. He has already qualified for regionals in the 500 yard freestyle, the 100 yard freestyle, the 200 yard individual medley, the 100 yard butterfly, and the 200 yard freestyle.

Orange’s Alex Andre won the 200 yard freestyle at 1:57.51. Andre has qualified for regionals in four other events.

Andrew Weeks automatically qualified for the 100 yard backstroke at 1:02.24, finishing second to Agans. Weeks has also qualified for regionals in the 200 yard individual medley.

Orange’s 200 yard freestyle relay team of Roman, Andre, Phillips and Weeks won at 1:40.11. They’re also set for regionals.

In the women’s meet, Cedar Ridge sophomore Quinn McCrimmon won the 500 yard freestyle at 5:54.00. Orange freshman Piper White finished second and also automatically qualified for regionals at 5:57.47.

Piper White also qualified for regionals in the 100 yard freestyle. White, a freshman, finished first at 58.68 seconds.

Orange junior Riley White earned a spot in regionals by winning the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:22.00. Cedar Ridge sophomore Sophia Stinnett finished second at 2:28.75. while McCrimmon finished 3rd. Both Stinnett and McCrimmon automatically qualified for regionals.

Riley White has qualified for regionals in the 100 yard butterfly, 100 yard freestyle, 500 yard freestyle and 100 yard backstroke. Piper White has qualified for the 200 yard freestyle, the 50 yard freestyle, 100 yard butterfly, the 500 yard freestyle and the 100 yard backstroke.

Stinnett, who was All-Central Carolina Conference last year as a freshman, captured the 50-yard freestyle at 26.64 seconds.

Orange’s 200 yard freestyle relay team of Sikes, Riley White, Piper White, and Ainsley Rasinske won the 200 yard freestyle relay at 1:51.35. Cedar Ridge’s team of Stinnett, McCrimmon, Abbygale Pearce and Hala Zafar finished second and punched its ticket to Greensboro at 1:58.22.

The Central Carolina Swimming Championships will be held at the Orange County Sportsplex on Wednesday night at 6:30. Orange is the defending conference champions in men’s swimming.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is freshman swimmer Alex Hill. In his first dual meet for the Red Wolves on November 23, Hill automatically qualified for the 3A Central Regionals by winning the 200 yard freestyle, touching the wall at 2:01.40. He also automatically qualified for the 200 yard individual medley, finishing in 1st place at 2:08.02. In the 500 yard freestyle, Hill also finished first with a time of 5:09.28. Additionally, Hill also qualified for regionals in the 400 yard freestyle relay, teaming wit Matthew Czar, Jason Pattinson and Nikhil Agans wit 3:47.61. Alex started training for swimming in Cary. He currently is enrolled in online programs at Cedar Ridge. Hill finished 2nd in the 200 yard freestyle in the Central Carolina Conference championships at the Orange County SportsPlex on January 27. Hill was a member of the 200 yard freestyle relay team in the Conference Championships with Pattinson, Agans and Czar. The team of Hill, Agnes, Pattinson and Czar finished 2nd in the conference championships with a time of 1:54.14. This interview was taped before the regionals.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is freshman swimmer Sophia Stinnett. Last Thursday, Stinnett claimed the Central Carolina Conference championship in the 200 yard freestyle, finishing first at 2:05.28 during the Central Carolina Conference Championships at the Orange County Sportsplex. Stinnett has been swimming at the SportsPlex since she was five years old. It’s more than just a sport to her, it’s part of her life. She trains two hours a day each day. Earlier this month, Stinnett teamed with Olivia Aitkin, Quinn McCrimmon and Abbygale Pearce to set a new school record in the 400 yard freestyle relay at 4:14.69. They also automatically qualified for the 3A Central Regionals, which will take place this Saturday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. In addition, Stinnett qualified for regionals in the 100 yard freestyle. On January 6, she finished second during a dual meet with Orange, Northwood and Walter Williams with a time of 57.18 seconds. Stinnett helped the Cedar Ridge women’s team finish 3rd in the Central Carolina Championships with 308 points on Thursday night.

Cedar Ridge freshmen Matthew Czar wasn’t sure what to expect in his first Central Carolina Conference championship meet on Thursday night at the Orange County SportsPlex, but it went exceedingly well. Czar won three gold medals. In the 50 yard freestyle, Czar finished first at 24.15 seconds, narrowly edging his Cedar Ridge teammate Nikhil Agans by eight-hundredths-of-a-second. In the 100 yard freestyle, Czar finished well ahead of the pack with a time of 56.60 seconds, three seconds better than runner-up Tigre Hipps of Walter Williams. Czar also claimed the gold medal in the 200 yard freestyle relay, where he teamed with Agans, Jason Pattinson and Alexander Hill at 1:40.21. Czar has qualified for the 3A Central Regionals in three events. Though he is a freshman, Czar has grown up swimming at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, but because of the pandemic, he hasn’t competed there since 2020. Next Saturday, Czar and some of his teammates will return to Greensboro for the regionals.

In a year that was anything but ordinary, Orange’s Katie Belle Sikes came away with a silver medal in the 50 yard freestyle at the 3A State Championships last winter.

That silver, paired with the 3A Central Regional championship she claimed in the midst of the pandemic, was a lot for a freshman in 2021. Yet through the summer and into her sophomore year, Sikes has had returning to the state championships and walking away with a goal foremost in her mind.

On Thursday night, Sikes prepared for the upcoming run to the regionals by claiming two 1st place finishes at the Central Carolina Conference Swimming championships at the Orange County SportsPlex. Sikes claimed the gold medal in the 50 yard freestyle, where she edged Northwood seniorJulia Earnshaw by nine-hundredths-of-a-second. Sikes claimed the 100 yard freestyle at a much more comfortable time of 53.97 seconds, with Earnshaw finishing second at 55.64 seconds.

“I was hoping to win a few of my events,” Sikes said. “I’ll take what I can get so I’ll take what I can get.”

Last year because of the pandemic, Sikes competed mainly in empty pools racing only against the clock. This year, with loosened restrictions, Sikes has found herself in a more typical setting with competitors surrounding her in adjacent lanes.

“Last year was an easy start into high school swimming. It wasn’t overwhelming,” Sikes said. “This year has been so much fun to get to swim against everyone else and all of these different teams. We got to grow as a team in general.”

In addition, Sikes medaled in two relay events. She claimed silver in the 200 yard medley relay, teaming with Sandra McCouch, Melissa Campbell and Ellie Wileman. Northwood’s team of Mia Corrado, Lauren Emrich, Abigail Emrich and Earnshaw finished 1st. The Cedar Ridge team of Olivia Aitkin, Abbygale Pearce, Quinn McCrimmon and freshman Sophia Stinnett came in third at 2:09.41.

Earlier this month, Aitkin, Stinnett, McCrimmon and Pearce set the school record in the 200 yard freestyle relay at 1:55.00 in their final dual meet. On Thursday night, the team broke the school record again at 1:54.15. They finished second in a close race to the wall behind the Northwood team of Gwen Hoeg, Anna Beck, Bianca Perez and Holly Thesing, who had a time of 1:53.38.

Stinnett was one of several Cedar Ridge freshman to come away with gold medals in their first conference championship meet. Stinnett, who qualified for regionals in November in her first dual meet, won the championship of the 200 yard freestyle at 2:05.28, a new personal best. It was a full 14 seconds under the automatic qualifying time of 2:19.49.

Stinnett also earned a silver medal in the 500 yard freestyle, finishing at 5:34.28. Northwood’s Corrado, with a time of 5:16.58, came in first.

Cedar Ridge finished third in the women’s standings with 308 points. Orange came in fourth at 245 points. Northwood claimed the conference championship with 563 points, while Eastern Alamance finished 2nd at 363 points.

Northwood’s Corrado earned four gold medals on the night. She won the 100 yard backstroke and the 500 yard freestyle. She also finished first in two relay races: the 200 yard medley relay and the 400 yard freestyle relay.

Orange senior Sandra McCouch, who is in her first year in Hillsborough after moving from Philadelphia last summer, finished 3rd in the 200 yard individual medley at 2:30.56. McCouch also finished third in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:17.95. Two weeks ago, McCouch qualified for regionals in the breaststroke.

Sikes, McCouch, Melissa Campbell and Ellie Wileman finished third in the 400 yard freestyle relay at 4:09.21. The group automatically qualified for regionals. Northwood’s Hoeg, Abigail Emrich, Corrado and Earnshaw won the conference title at 3:45.32.

Quinn McCrimmon of Cedar Ridge finished 3rd in the 100 yard butterfly at 1:06.70. She automatically qualified for regionals, which will be held at the Greensboro Coliseum Aquatic Complex on February 5.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is freshman swimming Matthew Czar. Matthew is one of many local swimmers who have grown up with the Hillsborough Aquatic Club. He has been swimming since he was in elementary school at the Orange County Sportsplex. In his first meet with Cedar Ridge in November, Czar finished first in the 200 yard freestyle, Czar qualified for the 3A Central Regionals by finishing first at 2:01.40, edging out Orange’s Nick Bacara. Czar beat the automatic qualifying time by nine-hundredths-of-a-second. Later in the meet, Czar teamed with fellow freshman Alexander Hill, junior Jason Pattinson and sophomore Nikhil Agans to qualify for regionals in the 400 yard freestyle. The team finished 2nd in the meet at 3:47.61. Cedar Ridge will compete in the Central Carolina Conference championship meet on January 28 at the Orange County Sportsplex. Czar and several of his teammates will compete in the 3A Central Regionals at the Greensboro Aquatic Center on Saturday, February 5.