CARY— Records fell all over the place as Charlotte Catholic rolled to its eighth consecutive 3A women’s title on Friday night in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 3A swimming and diving championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center.

Catholic rolled to victory with a whopping 469 points in earning its 12th straight NCHSAA crown over two different classifications. Waxhaw Marvin Ridge was second with 258, followed by Chapel Hill (228), Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons (184) and Concord Jay Robinson (133). A total of 30 schools scored in the women’s competition.

Nora McCullagh and Lauren Rhodes were double individual winners for the state champs, with McCullagh winning the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke and Rhodes taking the 100 free and 200 free. Rhodes shattered her own state 3A mark in the 200 by well over two seconds, in a time of 1:47.98.

McCullagh was named the Most Valuable Performer in the women’s meet, as she achieved All-American Automatic times in both of her individual events and set a new all-classification record in the 50 free with a blistering 22.92 seconds. She also swam on two victorious relay teams.

In all, the Cougar women set nine new state 3A records, including five all-classification marks, and won all but two events. The Cougars set an all-classification record in the 200 medley relay with a winning time of 1:45.52, established a new mark in the 200 free relay by over two seconds, and set a new 400 free relay mark record. Catholic’s Elsa Welshofer sprinted to a time of 54.69 seconds in the 100 fly, another all-classification record.

Cardinal Gibbons held on to win its fourth consecutive state 3A men’s crown and sixth in a row over two classifications, led by Bailey Maloney. Maloney, who took top honors in both the 50 free and 100 free and swam the anchor leg on the record-setting 200 free relay team and the winning 400 free relay, was the MVP of the men’s championship.

Gibbons recorded 312 points to 283 for Charlotte Catholic, followed by Chapel Hill (212), Jay Robinson (149) and Marvin Ridge (132). A total of 40 schools recorded points in the men’s meet.

Dalton Shaw of Greenville D.H. Conley established a new 3A record in the 200 IM in 1:51.63, breaking an eight-year old mark previously held by Southwest Guilford’s Chris Spooner.

CARY— Emily Allen helped lead Cornelius W.A. Hough to its second consecutive team title on Thursday night in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 4-A swimming and diving championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center.

Allen won both the 50 and the 100 freestyle events and swam the anchor legs on two victorious relay teams to lift Hough to the crown and earn Most Valuable Performer honors, Allen set new NCHSAA all-classification records in both her individual events with All-American Automatic times in both.

Hough scored 323 points to 236 for runner-up Cary Green Hope. Cary Panther Creek was third at 182, followed by Charlotte Providence (167), Greensboro Grimsley (160) and Cary (159). A total of 35 schools scored in the women’s meet.

It was the ninth time in the last 12 years that a Charlotte-Mecklenburg school won the NCHSAA state 4-A women’s crown, with Providence earning six of those between 2002 and ’09.

Hannah Moore of Green Hope captured top honors in both the 100 backstroke and the 500 free and also swam the leadoff leg on the first-place 200 medley relay team. She set a new all-classification record of 54.37 seconds in the 100 back, breaking the old mark but just .03 of a second.

South Mecklenburg’s Alexandra Martelle also took two individual titles, winning both the 100 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley.

Green Hope, which won a pair of relay events, captured the men’s championship by scoring 259 points, with Hough in second at 190. The Green Hope state title snapped a string of four consecutive crowns won by Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools on the men’s side.

South Mecklenburg was third with 175, followed by East Chapel Hill (168) and defending state champ Providence (157). There were 44 schools scoring points in the men’s meet.

Colin Ellington of Holly Springs was the MVP of the men’s meet. Ellington was a double winner, finishing first in both the 200 individual medley and the 100 free. He established a new all-classification state record in the 100 free of 44.87 seconds and had All-American Automatic times in both events.

John Manchester of Hough also swam to two individual titles, taking both the 100 backstroke and the 200 free.

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.