GREENSBORO — The long-standing tradition of strong swim continued with Elkin High School as the men and women’s teams competed on Saturday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in the 1A/2A NCHSAA Central Regional swim meet. The men, competing with 11 swimmers, were able to collect 181 total points to capture a 3rd place finish overall. The women, who had seven swimmers participating, finished with 186 points and finished in 4th place overall. All six of Elkin’s relay teams qualified for the state meet as did eight individual swims.
The Lady Elks kicked the day off in winning fashion with a gold medal, first place finish in the opening event, the 200-yard medley relay event. The team of senior Sophie Welborn (backstroke), freshman Sarika Hatcher (breaststroke), senior Morgan Wiles (butterfly) and freshman Mya Brown (freestyle) finished the relay with a time of 1:59.56 earning the team’s first trip to the medal podium. The team earned a 4th place seed for this event in the upcoming state meet.
In the same event for the men, sophomore Webb Snyder (backstroke), sophomore Evan Baker (breaststroke), senior Troy Snow (butterfly) and senior Luke McComb (freestyle) managed a 5th place finish with a time of 1:50.28 earning the team’s first points of the day. The finish also garnered the team a 12th place seed in the state meet this coming weekend.
Elkin’s junior foreign exchange student Paloma Oliveri, an unexpected but much welcome addition to EHS swim this year, participated in the 200-yard freestyle event. Oliveri earned a 15th place finish with a time of 2:29.23. Freshman Michael Tragone represented the Elks in the same event for the men and finished in 10th place with a time of 2:09.86 while teammates junior Sawyer Poindexter picked up a 14th place finish with a time of 2:21.74 and junior Xander Carpentier grabbed a 16th place finish with a time of 2:25.77, all earning points for the Elks. Sophomore Jonas Johnson swam with a time of 2:31.93 and came in 23rd place.
Swimming in their final high school regional meet, veteran swimmers Sophie Welborn and Morgan Wiles both battled in the highly competitive 50-yard freestyle event. Welborn claimed the top spot with a 1st place finish with a time of 24.58 while Wiles touched just 0.73 seconds behind her teammate to take a 2nd place finish with a time of 25.31. Both ladies will compete at the state meet, Welborn with a 2nd place seed and Wiles from a 4th place seed. Also earning points for the Elks, sophomore Elissa Dickerson (29.13) picked up a 13th place finish and Mya Brown (29.38) finished in 16th place. Representing the men’s team in the same event, Luke McComb (25.27) earned points with a 15th place finish while Caleb White (27.35) finished in 21st place.
With little time to recover and rest, Morgan Wiles jumped back into the pool to compete in the 100-yard butterfly event. Wiles earned her third trip to the podium with a second place finish with a time of 58.75, acquiring a 2nd place seed in the state competition. Teammate Sarika Hatcher (1:07.76) managed a 7th place finish and will represent the Elks at states with a 19th seed start. The men were represented in this event by senior Jeremy Zamudio (1:09.16) and Evan Baker (1:10.54) who both earned points for the Elks with an 11th and 13th place finish, respectively.
In the 100-yard freestyle event, Sophie Welborn (53.91) earned a silver medal in her third trip to the podium with a 2nd place finish. Welborn will swim this event at the state meet from the 5th seed spot. Teammates Elissa Dickerson (1:06/17) and Paloma Oliveri (1:06.51) kept pace with each other and touched almost together in the 19th and 20th places. Mya Brown swam the event in a time of 1:11.07. For the men, Troy Snow seized his first medal, a bronze, and a trip to the podium with a 3rd place finish with a time of 50.37. Snow will compete at the state meet from the 10th seed spot. Caleb White (58.11) picked up points for the team with a 12th place finish as did Sawyer Poindexter ( 59.91) who finished in 16th place. Jonas Johnson (1:04.82) finished in 23rd place.
Two Elkin swimmers competed in the brutal 500-yard freestyle event. Michael Tragone qualified for state competition with a 4th place finish and a time of 5:54.32. Tragone will compete on Friday from the 22nd seed spot. Xander Carpentier (7:00.47) finished the distance event in 19th place.
In the second relay event of the day, the Lady Elks remained strong with a 2nd place finish. Morgan Wiles, Paloma Oliveri, Sarika Hatcher and Sophie Welborn all swam the event finishing with a time of 1:48.95. The Elks earned a 7th seed for the state meet. The men earned their only gold medal of the day with a first place finish in this event. Troy Snow, Luke McComb, Caleb White and Webb Snyder finished with a time of 1:36.53 giving them a 10th place seed for the state meet.
Webb Snyder represented the men’s team in the 100-yard backstroke event. Snyder (56.98) collected his second medal of the day with a 2nd place finish. He will swim the event on Friday from the 7th seed spot. Evan Baker (1:18.68) earned points for the men with a 15th place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke event.
In the final event of the day, the 400-yard freestyle event, the Lady Elks team of Sarika Hatcher, Mya Brown, Elissa Dickerson and Paloma Oliveri came in 8th place with a time of 4:25.40. The team will represent EHS at the state meet from the 24th seed spot. The men’s team of Luke McComb, Caleb White, Webb Snyder and Troy Snow finished in 2nd place with a time of 3:36.55, earning a 9th seed in the state competition.
Swimming and diving is the only sport in North Carolina which still combines 1A with 2A competition. The 1A/2A state meet will take place at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary on Friday, February 9. The Elkin team will travel to Cary on Thursday evening in preparation for the meet. The competition will be livestreamed on the NFHS Network.
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