2026 Cary, North Carolina Sectionals
- March 12-15, 2026
- Triangle Aquatic Center, Cary, North Carolina
- Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
- Results on Meet Mobile: “2026 NC TAC Speedo Champions Series ESSZ”
- Day 1 Recap
- Day 2 Recap
- Day 3 Recap
TAC Titan Davis Jackson turned in a top performance in the boys’ 200 back on the final day of the Cary Sectionals, while teammate Reina Liu and Mecklenburg’s Mike Rice picked up two more wins apiece to close out the championship.
Girls’ Day 4 Recap
Liu wrapped up a great weekend of racing by adding another two victories to her collection on Sunday night, coming out on top in the 100 free and 200 back.
She won the 100 free in a time of 48.16, shaving .35 off of her previous lifetime best. She was the only one in the field to go sub-49, charging into the wall well ahead of teammate Caden Martin, who took the runner-up spot in 49.05.
Liu’s performance in the 100 free marked the 3rd-fastest time in the country this season in the girls’ 15-16 age group. It also bumped her up to #17 on the ranking of all-time top 100 times in this event for her age group.
Later in the session, Liu prevailed in the 200 back with a time of 1:52.49, just three-tenths of a second off her best.
The 15-year-old already had four individual victories to her name from earlier in the competition, having won the 50 free (21.93), 200 free (1:44.49), 100 fly (52.00) and 100 back (51.07).
Westchester Aquatic Club’s Ines Arnall, who is committed to Stanford for fall 2027, snagged the runner-up spot in the 200 back with a lifetime best time of 1:53.62 to mark her first time breaking the 1:54 barrier. Her performance also marked the 8th-fastest time in the girls’ 17-18 age group this season.
Other Day 4 Winners and Highlights:
- Carolin He took home the title in the 200 IM in 1:59.68. Despite adding almost two seconds, the 16-year-old, who swims for TAC Titans, was the only competitor in the field to go under 2:00.
- Fellow Titan Liv Fleshman prevailed in the 1650 free, dropping over 13 seconds to clinch the win in 16:46.86.
- The girls’ 400 free relay went to Mecklenburg Swim Association, thanks to the team of Madi Hertzig, Georgia Howard, Maddy Boland and Karina Plaza, who posted a winning time of 3:21.84. Hertzig led off in 50.75, knocking .82 off of her personal best.
Final Team Scores:
- TAC Titans – 983
- Mecklenburg Swim Association – 752
- SwimMAC Carolina – 405.5
- North Carolina Aquatic Club – 233
- Kentucky Aquatics – 226.5
Boys’ Day 4 Recap
TAC Titans’ Davis Jackson dominated the 200 back, throwing down a lifetime best time of 1:39.26 to break 1:40 for the first time and win the event by almost five seconds.
The 17-year-old knocked two seconds off of his previous personal best (1:41.28) to claim the meet title in the event. His performance marked the 2nd-fastest time in the country this season in the boys’ 17-18 age group, just behind Indiana University’s David Kovacs (1:39.18).
Jackson, who is committed to Cal Berkeley for fall 2027, now sits at #7 on the ranking of all-time top times in the 200 back for the boys’ 17-18 age group.
Jackson’s victory in the 200 back landed him his third individual victory of the meet; he won the 100 back (45.90) and 400 IM (3:44.36).
Also enjoying a big night on Sunday was 17-year-old Mike Rice, who picked up two wins to bring his individual victory tally for the competition up to five.
Rice, who swims for Mecklenburg Swim Association, prevailed in the 100 free in 42.60, just off his lifetime best in that event (42.48).
He went on to win the 200 IM in a significant personal best time of 1:44.73. He knocked almost two seconds off of his previous best time (1:46.54) from March 2025 and bumped himself up to #12 on the list of top times this season in the boys’ 17-18 age group.
Other Day 4 Winners and Highlights:
- North Carolina Aquatic Club’s Colt Chaires won the 1650 free, dropping over 17 seconds to secure the victory in 15:10.26. Behind him, teammate Lysander Mihaly also saw a big drop, knocking over 16 seconds off of his personal best to take 2nd in 15:13.39.
- The boys’ 400 free relay went to Kentucky Aquatics, whose team of Will Jones, Clark Coyle, Jacob Phillips and Sawyer Wilson turned in a time of 3:00.95 to win by almost seven seconds.
Final Team Scores:
- TAC Titans – 1090
- Mecklenburg Swim Association – 554.5
- Kentucky Aquatics – 356
- North Carolina Aquatic Club – 338
- SwimMAC Carolina – 221
Reminds me of Murphy/Conger as HS juniors back in the day.
His 2back is faster than his 2free, and his 1back is almost faster than his 1free.
baylor stanton just went sub 1:40 for the first time last week and hes going to cal too and a 1:41 2im
In my mind “Baylor” is a single swimmer that has been around 19 for a decade. I can’t keep them straight.
This kid and Holgerson are making Baylor Stanton look pedestrian in backstroke… which is wild
Wow Cal is really going to be bad for only one year. And that year they are still a top 6 team in the country.
It’s honestly shocking to me how everyone wrote cal off. Yeah I know they lost a lot of guys but this is Durden’s magic we’re talking about. Don’t doubt cal to always be there.
Fastest high school junior of all time in this event! Cal got a good one for sure
The reload is coming 😂
Cal 🤝 men’s backstroke
He’s only a junior?! Wow.