Orange Swimming

Before she could even form coherent thoughts, Katie Belle Sikes seemed to know she was born to be a swimmer before everyone else did.

When she was three years old, Sikes somehow eluded her parents attention and jumped off the diving board at her grandparents swimming pool. With no hesitation, she plopped herself into the deep end while she tried to reach a nearby ladder, where her brother was stationed.

The fact she had not learned how to swim yet didn’t stop her, though it did leave her parents horrified.

Yet before they could jump in the water, Katie Belle popped up from underneath and reached the wall much to everyone’s relief.

It was a harbinger of things to come.

On Wednesday afternoon, hundreds of workouts at the Orange County Sportsplex, dozens of trips with travel teams and high school competitions all led to a ceremony at Orange High School’s Gymnasium. It’s where Sikes formally signed with the Georgia Bulldogs, where she verbally committed last fall.

Georgia, a seven-time NCAA National Champion in women’s swimming, is home to Gabrielsen Natatorium, where Sikes first competed in middle school.

Katie Belle was accompanied in the signing ceremony by her parents Kristin and Thomas Sikes, along with her coaches Rob and Kristie Geib.

“I have so many emotions right now,” Sikes said. “I’m extremely excited. I have so many emotions for so many people. Swimming in Garbielsen Natatorium was very intimidating when I was in eighth grade, but also super exciting to be swimming in a poll where so many national titles had been won.”

Sikes quickly established herself during a freshman year that was anything but typical. In the pandemic year of 2021, she found herself practicing in reduced lanes due to COVID restrictions. She didn’t have one in-person class as a freshman. Sikes won the first of her six regional championships in the 50 yard freestyle at the Greensboro Aquatic Center and finished second in the 3A State Championships behind Olivia Rhodes of Charlotte Catholic.

As a freshman, she was named the Big 8 Conference Female Swimmer of the Year.

In 2022, she became the first female swimmer in Orange High history to win a state championship when she finished 1st with a time of 23.24 seconds.

The 2023 State Championships at the Cary Aquatic Center may have been the greatest singular athletic performance in the history of Orange High School. Sikes won two individual state championships. She set a new state record, regardless of classification, in the 50 yard freestyle at 22.17 seconds. It was the tenth-fastest time ever recorded by a high school athlete nationally, earning her automatic All-American status. She also set the 3A State Record in the 100 yard freestyle at 49.45 seconds, her first state title in the event.

Sikes swam the anchor leg for the 200 yard freestyle team with Riley White, Piper White and Ainsley Rasinske, which became the first relay team to win a state championship in Hillsborough history.

As a junior, she was named the Most Outstanding Female Swimmer of the 3A State Championships.

Of course, Sikes still has a senior year starting later this month. It wouldn’t be a campaign without new goals to aim for to complete a career that’s already firmly entrenched into the Orange High Hall of Fame.

“Last year, our freestyle medley relay was just shy of a state championship,” Sikes said. “I would really like to close out the season bringing both of our relay teams to state championships. I also would like to set another record in the 50 yard freestyle and another record in the 100-yard freestyle.”

Last summer, Sikes was named the HighSchoolOT. com Female Swimmer of the Year. She is a three-time USA Swimming Scholastic All-American. She has a 4.0 grade point average.

Three of Hillsborough’s most successful athletes have been nominated for the HighSchoolOT.com Honors, which will be held at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh on June 17.

Cedar Ridge senior Josh Mayhew will look to repeat as the Best Men’s Tennis Player after being nominated once again. He won the award in 2022.  In addition, Orange’s Gabriel Schmid was nominated for Best Men’s Cross Country Runner. Orange junior Katie Belle Sikes is a finalist for Best Female Swimmer despite being conspicuously missing from the list for Female Athlete of the Year.

Voting is taking place here.  

Anyone can vote once a day until the deadline on May 14.

Mayhew is the first Cedar Ridge men’s tennis player to reach the finals in the 3A State singles championship. Last week, he was named the Central Carolina Conference men’s tennis player of the year for the second straight season. As a sophomore in 2021, Mayhew reached the 3A NCHSAA State Singles title final, where he faced Chapel Hill’s Dennis Perumov. Mayhew defeated Soham Pradhan of Marvin Ridge in the semifinals 6-2, 6-4.

As a junior, Mayhew led Cedar Ridge to the CCC Men’s Tennis Team Championship. They reached the state dual team playoffs. In the 2022 3A State Singles Tournament, Mayhew defeated J.J. Woerner of First Flight 6-0, 6-2 in the opening round. In the quarterfinals, Mayhew rolled past Shiv Patel of South Point 6-0, 6-2.Mayhew defeated Ajay Swisher of St. Stephens 6-0, 6-1 in the semifinals. He faced Terry Sanford’s Drew Hedgecoe in the finals.

Mayhew will try to qualify for the state championships for the third year in a row this Friday and Saturday during the Mideast Regional Championships at the Burlington Tennis Center. He was the only player from Hillsborough to qualify for regionals this year.

In February, Sikes completed a season of domination with possibly the greatest athletic performance in school history at the NCHSAA 3A State Swimming Championships. She was named the Most Outstanding Female of the 3A State Championships. Sikes won three state championships. She won the 50-meter freestyle state title for the second straight year, setting a new state record at 22.17 seconds. It was the tenth-fastest time in American history in a high school meet.

Sikes also won the 100-meter freestyle state title at 49.45 seconds. Both the 50-meter freestyle and the 100-meter freestyle earned her automatic All-American status.

Sikes is the first female swimmer in Orange High history to win a state swimming championship. She also swam the anchor leg with Riley White, Piper White and Ainsley Rasinske to win the women’s 200 yard freestyle relay state championship. They are the first state championship relay team in Orange County Schools history.

Overall, Sikes qualified for regionals in all individual events this year. She was only allowed to compete in two of them.

In November, Schmid won the 3A State Men’s Cross Country Cross Championship on a humid day at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville. Schmid became just the second runner from Orange to win a state cross country state title with a time of 15:44.289, 16 seconds ahead of Stephen Fernetti of North Lincoln.

Schmid continued to achieve big things after the state championship. Last week, he qualified for the 3A Mideast Outdoor Track & Field Regionals in the 1,600 meters and the 3,200 meters during a tri-meet at the John Kirby Sports Complex in Mebane. Schmid finished first in the 1,600 at 4:33.69. In the 3,200 meters, Schmid took first place at 10:04.72.

Last spring, Schmid finished 2nd in the 3,200 meters in the Mideast Regionals at Southern Lee High School. His teammate, Spencer Hampton, came in first. A week later at the 3A State Championships, Schmid finished 2nd in the 3,200 meters at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro.

Orange’s last individual state champion in men’s outdoor track and field was Jamar Davis, who was named the Most Outstanding Performer of the event in 2018. Davis, who was also a wrestler and soccer player, is now at N.C. State.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is sophomore swimmer Luke Roman. It was another successful season for the Orange men’s swimming team, which captured the Central Carolina Conference championship and finished 2nd in the Central Region. Roman won the CCC Championship in the 200 yard freestyle and the 500 yard freestyle. At the 3A State Championships, Roman finished 4th in the 200 yard freestyle with a time of 1:46.48, a new school record. At the Central Regionals, Roman finished second in the 200 yard freestyle. He also finished 2nd in the 500 yard freestyle, again setting a new school record. Roman also teamed with Evan Phillips, Alex Andre and Andrew Weeks to finish 2nd in the 200 yard medley relay with a new season-best time in the regionals and advanced to the state championships. Roman, Andre Phillips and Nick Baczara finished 3rd in the 400 freestyle relay in the regionals, also advancing to the state championships. In 2022, Roman was named the CCC Male Swimmer of the Year. As a freshman, he won two CCC Championshipis: in the 200 yard freestyle and the 500 yard freestyle. Roman will spend the spring with his travel team before embarking on his junior year at Orange.

Another successful season for the Orange men’s swimming team ended at the 3A State Swimming Championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary.

After the Panthers captured the Central Carolina Conference championship for the second straight year, Orange finished sixth in the team standing during the state championships on February 11. The Panthers also finished 2nd in the Central Regionals on February 3.

Sophomores Luke Roman and Alex Andre had standout performances for the Panthers during the state championships. Roman, Andre, senior Evan Phillips and senior Andrew Weeks teamed together to finish 7th in the state in the 200 yard medley relay. They finished with a time of 1:45.27. Northwest Cabarrus captured the state title at 1:36.75. Earlier in the day, Roman, Andre, Phillips and Weeks qualified for the finals with a 7th-place finish in the preliminaries.

Roman, Andre, Weeks and Phillips finished 2nd in the Central Regionals in the 200 yard medley relay.

In the final event of the day, Roman, Andre, Phillips and senior Nick Baczara finished eighth in the state in the 400 yard freestyle relay. With Phillips swimming the anchor leg, Orange finished at 3:33.40. Roman opened with a 24.85 opening leg. Carrboro, with Cummins starting the race, won the state championship at 3:13.96. Earlier in the day, Orange finished 7th in the preliminaries at 3:26.48.

Andre was the top individual finisher for Orange on the day. He finished third in the 500 yard freestyle. Andre raced in the second of three heats for the 500 and turned in a personal best time of 4:49.31. Andrew Cummins of Carrboro won the state championship at 4:31.06, which earned him All-American consideration. Roman, who finished 2nd in the regionals in the 500 freestyle, finished seventh in the state championships at 4:52.97.

Roman finished fourth in the 200 yard freestyle. Roman, who finished 2nd at regionals in the same event, came in at 1:46.48, nearly shaving a second off his time at regionals. Andrew Cummins of Carrboro won the state championship at 1:38.24, which earned him automatic All-American status.

In his final meet for Orange, senior Evan Phillips finished seventh in the 200 yard individual medley. Phillips finished at 2:03.12. Northwest Cabarrus swimmers had a 1-2 finish. Harrison Ranier won the state title at 1:51.66, while his teammate, Lane Bradshaw, came in 2nd at 1:53.11.

Later in the day, Phillips finished sixth in the 100 yard breaststroke. After coming in fifth earlier in the day in the preliminaries, Philips came in sixth at 1:02.07. Lane Bradshaw of Northwest Cabarrus finished with the state championship at 59.02 seconds.

Cedar Ridge’s Nikhil Agans, a junior finished fifth in the 100 yard freestyle. Agans’ final time was 49.16 seconds. Last month, Agans won the Central Carolina Conference championship in the 100 yard freestyle at the Orange County Sportsplex. Carrboro’s Will Thompson, who won the regionals title, brought home the state championship at 44.94 seconds.

Agans earned his spot in the finals following a swim-off with Ezra Zapler of J.H. Rose. Both Agans and Zapler finished tied for eighth in the preliminaries on Saturday morning. Only eight swimmers are allowed for the championship final. Agans won the two-man race against Zapler at 48.86 seconds. Zapler finished at 50.28 seconds.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior swimmer Katie Belle Sikes. Last week, Sikes turned in one of the greatest athletic performances in Orange High history. She won three Gold Medals at the 3A State Swimming Championships. Overall for her career, she has four state titles and is the only female swimmer in Orange High history to win an individual state championship. Sikes was named the Most Outstanding Female Swimmer of the 3A State Championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary. She took 1st place in the 50 yard freestyle setting a new state record, regardless of classification, at 22.17 seconds. The time was the 10th fastest ever recorded during a high school meet in American history. It also earned Sikes automatic All-American status. For the first time, Sikes won the state championship in the 100 yard freestyle at 49.45 seconds, setting a 3A State Championship record. Sikes later teamed with Riley White , Piper White and Ainsley Rasinske to win the 200 yard freestyle relay state championship. Sikes swam the anchor leg at 22.65 seconds. Sikes has also won five regional championships in her Orange career. This year, she qualified for regionals in all eight individual events. Last October, Sikes announced her commitment to swim at the University of Georgia. Her name will go down as the greatest swimmer in the history of Orange High School. 

The Orange swimming relay team of Katie Belle Sikes, Riley White, Ainsley Rasinske and Piper White made history during the 3A State Swimming Championships on Saturday at the Triangle Aquatic Center. They became the first relay team in Orange County history to win a state championship. In one of the tightest races of the event, Orange held off Northwest Cabarrus to win the 200 yard freestyle relay. Riley White opened and put the Lady Panthers in the lead with a lap of 24.90 seconds. Piper White followed with a 26-second lap. Rasinske, a freshman, kept Orange near the lead. Sikes swam the anchor leg in 22.65 seconds. Orange finished with a time of 1:41.04, edging Northwest Cabarrus’ time of 1:42.42. White, Rasinske, White and Sikes also won the 3A Central Regional championship and the Central Carolina Conference championship together. The group nearly won a second state championship at the beginning of the event. White, Rasinske, White and Sikes finished 2nd in the 200 yard medley relay. Central Cabarrus finished first. White, Rasinske, White and Sikes will all return next season for their senior year looking to repeat as State Champions, but their mark in Orange swimming history is permanently marked in stone. 

Where do you go from here?

Asking Katie Belle Sikes that question was the best way to get her to hesitate after she captured her first 3A State Championship in February 2022. At the time, it was something she didn’t have a precise answer for.

So much has changed since then.

She’s committed to swim at Georgia. She changed travel teams. She qualified for all eight individual events for the Central Regionals this winter, even though there were less dual meets for her Orange women’s swimming team.

Now, she’s accomplished something that most swimmers only dream of.

On Saturday, Sikes won three gold medals at the NCHSAA 3A State Swimming Championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary. Sikes repeated as champion in the 50 yard freestyle, setting a new state record (regardless of classification) of 22.17 seconds. The time was the 10th fastest ever recorded during a high school meet in American history. It also earned Sikes automatic All-American status.

For the first time, Sikes won the 100 meters state championship. She touched the wall at 49.45 seconds, another automatic All-American time. Sikes’ time was a 3A State Championship record. The state record is held by Teresa Ivan of Ardrey Kell at 49.25 seconds.

Sikes also made history when she swam the anchor league for the first Orange relay team to ever win a state championship. Riley White, Piper White, Ainsley Rasinske and Sikes captured 1st place in the women’s 200 yard freestyle relay at 1:41.04. In a tight race, Sikes swam the final leg in 22.65 seconds, two seconds faster than Northwest Cabarrus’ Caroline Rinker.

White, Rasinske, Sikes and White are the first relay team in Hillsborough history to win a state championship.

Sikes was named the Most Outstanding Female Swimmer of the 3A State Championships, another first-time award for any swimmer from Orange or Cedar Ridge High School.

Last year, Sikes felt more relief than joy after she captured her first state championship. The day, in and of itself, is long. There are preliminaries that start at 9AM, followed by a three-hour wait for finals to begin at 5PM. Last year in between sessions, Sikes got to go back to her grandparents house, Linda and Donald, and take a nap before she became the first Orange female swimmer to win a state championship.

Sikes attributes her better performance in the state championships to a new travel team, Eastern Carolina Aquatics, coached by Claudio Battaglini.

“It definitely helped a lot,” Sikes said. “From the times that I swam and how I broke the record, I owe a lot of that to him. He put a whole program out for me, just for high school and states, and it was really great. My old coach didn’t like high school swimming as much as Claudio does. Claudio is all-in. He knows this is a big meet for everyone and wants me to do much better. We train differently. We did more sprint work and I got to rest a little bit more.”

Sikes now has four state championships for her career. As a freshman in 2021, she finished second in the 50 yard freestyle to Olivia Rhodes of Charlotte Catholic, who edged Sikes by .37 of a second for the state title.

“I reached the goals I set for myself,” Sikes said. “I may have over exceeded a little bit. I definitely wasn’t expecting to set the best time not only for my high school career, but also for my club career. I’m really happy with how I swam.”

After one of the greatest athletic performances in county history, it’s easy to forget that Sikes is a junior. She still has one more year remaining at Orange and finding motivation won’t be hard.

“Honestly, it’s not that hard,” Sikes said. “I love my team and I love my sport. It might seem like I have done everything I can do this year, but I’m just going to go back at it again next year to see how much better I can get.”

The Orange women finished fourth in the team standings. Carrboro came away with the team state championship with 196 points. Orange had 154 points.

In addition to their 200 yard freestyle relay championship, White, Rasinske, White and Sikes finished second in the 200 yard medley relay. They finished behind Central Cabarrus, who beat out Orange by .15-of-a-second.

In the 50 yard freestyle, Piper White finished 10th at 25.78. Piper also came in 10th in the 100 yard freestyle.

Orange’s Riley White came in fifth in the 100 yard butterfly at 59.55 seconds. She finished 7th in the 100 yard backstroke at 1:01.57. Abby Cronin, a sophomore from Central Cabarrus, won the state title at 58.28 seconds.

Cedar Ridge’s Sophia Stinnett finished 6th in the 500 yard freestyle at 5:26.76. She finished  11th in the 200 yard freestyle at 2:02.35.

Another Red Wolves sophomore, Quinn McCrimmon, finished 13th in the 200 yard individual medley at 2:24.19. Maya Lambert of Carrboro came away with the state championship at 2:04.16. Lambert also captured the state title in the 100 yard butterfly.

For the second year in a row, the Orange men’s swimming team has followed a Central Carolina Conference championship with a runner-up finish in the Central Regionals.

On Friday at the Greensboro AquatIc Center, the Panthers has two Silver Medals from Sophomore Luke Roman and two bronze medals from senior Evan Phillips to finish with 252 points. Carrboro claimed its second straight 3A Central Regional title with 376 points.

Roman, who captured three gold medals at the CCC Championships on January 25 at the Orange County Sportsplex, finished 2nd in the 200 yard freestyle. He set a new school record at 1:47.43. Carrboro junior Andrew Commins took the gold medal at 1:44.00. Orange’s Alex Andre finished fourth, also qualifying for the 3A State Championships, with a time of 1:51.54.

In the 500 yard freestyle, Roman had another school record at 4:52.23, good enough for second place. Commins took the gold medal at 4:41.69. Andre finished fourth, earning another spot in the state championships, at 5:05.20.

Roman also teamed with Phillips, Alexander Andre and Andrew Weeks to finished 2nd in the 200 yard medley relay. The quartet, with Roman swimming the anchor leg, finished at 1:46.96. They finished less than a second behind the Durham School of the Arts team of William Gray, Dreizin Ginsberg, Lucca Battaglini and Carson Sheehan, who finished at 1:46.07.

Roman, Phillips, Alexander and Weeks also qualified for the state championships in the 400 yard freestyle relay. They finished third with a time of 3:28.23. Carrrboro’s team of Commins, Matt Strada, Will Thompson and Sam McCallion finished first at 3:18.84.

Phillips, who also won three conference championships in Hillsborough, came in third in the 200 yard individual medley. He set a new personal best time of 2:07.25. William Sikes of Northwood captured the regional title at 2:01.23.

In the 100 yard breaststroke, Phillips finished third at 1:03.40, another personal best to advance to the state championships.

Orange senior Andrew Weeks qualified for the 100 yard backstroke. Weeks finished fourth after he touched the wall at 1:00.29. Carrrboro’s Will Thompson finished first at 50.23 seconds.

The State Championships will be held on Saturday at the Cary Aquatic Center.

Cedar Ridge’s junior Nikhil Agans, who won the CCC Championship in the 200 yard freestyle, earned the bronze medal in the same event at regionals. Agans touched the wall at 1:47.77, but a fraction of a second behind Roman. Agans also qualified for the state championships in the 100 yard free. Agans came in fourth at 49.92 seconds. Carrboro’s Thompson captured the regional title at 46.44 seconds.

Cedar Ridge finished 11th in the men’s team standings with 95 points.

The Panthers, who won the Central Carolina Conference championship for the second year in a row, had six male swimmers earn a spot on the podium at regionals. Last year there were five.

In 2022, Roman finished 2nd in the 200 yard freestyle.

This year, the Panthers were without diver Stanz Zitko, a diver who won four consecutive 3A/2A/1A Central Regional Championships during his stint at Orange. Zitko, who graduated last summer, finished 2nd in the State Championships last February.

Orange has only had one male swimmer win a state championship in school history. In 2018, Ben Scott won the 3A State title in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 45.95 seconds.

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.

The Orange women’s swimming relay team was a big reason why the Lady Panthers were able to win the Central Carolina Conference team championship. On Thursday night, the team of junior Katie Belle Sikes, freshman Ainsley Rasinske, junior Riley White and freshman Piper White teamed to win the gold medals in the 200 yard medley relay and the 200 yard freestyle relay. Sikes had another big night in the conference championships, winning four gold medals. She captured the 100 yard freestyle and the 100 yard backstroke. Riley White won the gold medal in the 50 yard freestyle. She also took home the silver medal in the 100 yard butterfly. Piper White won the silver medal in the 200 yard freestyle. The Orange women’s team, which finished fourth last year in the CCC Championships, took first place. They became the fifth sports team from Orange this year to win a Central Carolina Conference title. Sikes, Rasinske, Piper White and Riley White will team together during the 3A Central Regional championships on Friday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.