Thursday, February 9, 2012

Rhodes Leads Charlotte Catholic To 3-A Swimming Title; Gibbons Takes Men's Crown

CARY – Lauren Rhodes of Charlotte Catholic turned in a dominant performance to earn Most Valuable Performer honors, leading Catholic to the women's team title Thursday night in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 3-A swimming and diving championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center.

Charlotte Catholic's women's team won its seventh consecutive 3-A state swimming and diving crown and 11th straight overall in two different classifications as the Cougars rolled to an easy victory.

Rhodes set 3-A records in winning both the 100 and 200 freestyle events, smashing the 100 mark by more than a second and half. Then she anchored the victorious relay squads in both the 200 free and 400 free, as both teams established new all-classification records.

Catholic tallied a whopping 496 points to 291.5 for second-place Waxhaw Marvin Ridge. Chapel Hill was third at 284.5, followed by Washington (155) and Waynesville Tuscola (130). A total of 33 schools scored points in the women's meet.

Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons captured its third straight 3-A men's team title and fifth consecutive crown overall. Gibbons did not have any individual winners, but rode excellent balance and earned victories in all three relay events to take the title.

Cardinal Gibbons led the way among the 40 schools scoring points in the men's meet with a total of 275, with Charlotte Catholic second at 227. Then came, in order, Marvin Ridge (195), Chapel Hill (154) and Concord Jay Robinson (135).

Sava Turcanu of Hickory St. Stephens was a double winner in men's competition, taking top honors in both the 200 and 500 freestyle events, to earn the men's MVP award. Wilson Hunt's Shawn Hunter won both the 100 free and the 200 intermediate medley.

The 1-A/2-A championships will be held on Friday and then the 4-A schools will compete on Saturday, all at the Triangle Aquatics Center.

All American Swim Supply serves as the title sponsor of the championships, and the Raleigh Sports Consortium is the primary host sponsor.