The Marvin Ridge boys won a historic North Carolina high school 3A state meet in which state records fell in 9 of 12 events. Meanwhile the Charlotte Catholic girls won 6 total events and broke 3 state records to win the girls title.
Boys Meet
Marvin Ridge took home both free relays, breaking class 3A records in each event to power a 43-point win over Chapel Hill. Sophomore Boyd Poelke was the biggest scorer, winning the 50 free (21.11), leading off the 200 free relay and anchoring the 400 free relay.
That shorter free relay featured Boyd, Nicholas Piscitelli, Josh Stablein and Charles Rothenberger and went 1:26.08. That got half a second under the school’s own state record from a year ago, and all four members of the relay are in line to return next year as well. Rothenberger, Matthew Shen, Stablein and Poelke went 3:10.82 in the 400 free relay, also breaking a Marvin Ridge state record. Shen is the only member of either relay who is a senior.
The top individual performers were South Iredell senior Colson Zucker and Western Alamance junior Noah Henderson. Zucker set state records in the 200 IM (1:49.20) and 100 breast (56.02), while Henderson set 3A state marks in the 100 fly (48.61) and 100 back (48.58).
Northern Guilford got off to a hot start, taking the first two events in state records. The medley relay of Preston Forst, Jeremy Lalumondier, Jonathan Wachendorfer and Bryan Hill went 1:34.79, and Forst came right off that race to go 1:38.86 and win hte 200 free. That smashed his own state record by more than two seconds.
Other state records came from Patrick O’Brien in diving (499.10) and Curtis Wiltsey in the 500 free (4:29.30). In the latter race, Thomas Bretzmann was also under the old record, going 4:29.63.
Ben Scott won the 100 free in 45.95.
Top 5 Teams:
- Marvin Ridge – 246
- Chapel Hill – 203
- East Chapel Hill – 189
- Charlotte Catholic – 183.5
- Northern Guilford – 178.5
Girls Meet
Charlotte Catholic got massive performances from senior Julia Menkhaus and junior Olwyn Bartis to win the girls title by 58 points over Marvin Ridge.
Menkhaus, a Virginia commit, topped the 100 fly in 53.84 and the 100 back in 53.70. Both races chopped down her old state records. Bartis won a pair of individual races for her part, going 1:48.64 in the 200 free and 50.69 in the 100 free.
The two combined to win the 400 free relay in 3:28.43, blowing out the field by two full seconds. Menkhaus led off, followed by Victoria Dichak and Madeline Menkhaus and Bartis anchored. Menkhaus also led off the medley relay, which won in 1:45.46 and set a new 3A state record by just .06 seconds. That broke a five-year-old record previously held by Charlotte Catholic. That relay also included Juliet Miechkowski on breaststroke, the younger Menkhaus on fly and Alina Stout on freestyle.
Charlotte Catholic very nearly swept the relays, going 1:36.45 and missing the win by .3 seconds in the 200 free relay. That title went to Weddington in 1:36.15 with a team of Maddy Flickinger, Amelia Kudela, Kelsey Tolchin and Katie Corbi. Corbi also won the 50 free in 23.63.
Other event winners were Roberson T.C.’s Grace Reeder in the 200 IM (2:04.51), East Chapel Hill’s Alyssa Wang in diving (473.90), Hickory’s Anna Durak in the 500 free (4:52.87) and Parkwood’s Kaylee Hamblin in the 100 breast (1:03.08).
Top 5 Teams:
- Charlotte Catholic – 298
- Marvin Ridge – 240
- East Chapel Hill – 197
- Weddington – 191
- Roberson, T.C. – 175
