By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Capturing three of the top four spots in the Women’s 50 free helped the Watauga women’s team to a commanding win in the Northwestern 6A/7A Conference Swimming Championships on Jan. 21, with the conference’s most robust roster rolling up 359 team points vs. 238 by second place South Caldwell and 208 for third place Freedom.
South Caldwell and Watauga traded places in the Men’s team competition, the Spartans securing a narrow 281-271 win over the Pioneers. Freedom was third at 208 points.
WOMEN’S HIGHLIGHTS
In the Women’s 50 Free, Watauga senior Athena Elliott swam the distance in 25.68, almost a second ahead of teammate Merritt Powell as the runner-up (26.47) and South Caldwell’s third-place finisher, Chloe Bolick (26.63). For the conference meet, only the top three swimmers in an individual event earn team points, so Watauga’s Tessa Buchanan brought home an important fourth place finish in 26.80. The Pioneers’ Macie Kent finished as the No. 5 athlete, non-scoring, in 27.38.
Watauga’s quartet of Addie Wilson, Buchanan, Ayla Crawley and Elliott opened the meet with a win in the Women’s 200 Medley Relay, in 1:54.12 vs. 1:57.65 posted by the South Caldwell team of Bolick, Hannah Wasson, Peyton Felts, and Kyra Westerfield.
St. Stephens’ Addie Brabandt captured the Women’s 200 Free, finishing in 2:02.88, a little more than five seconds ahead of Watauga’s Chessy Martin (2:07.99). The Pioneers’ Amelia Bennett and Vivi Vannoy also picked up valuable team points in the event, finishing No. 5 and No. 6, respectively.
South Caldwell’s Felts cruised to No. 1 in the Women’s 200 Individual Medley (2:11.27), well ahead of the Pioneers’ Wilson at No. 2 (2:19.69), with Freedom’s Lucy Jones well back as the No. 3 finisher in 2:32.93. Watauga freshman Ellie Staeheli finished No. 6 to pick up some more team points for the Pioneers.
Felts of South Caldwell nosed out Watauga’s Elliott in the Women’s 100 Butterfly event, 58.19 to 1:00.00. Pioneer freshman Vivian Vallecillo was 12 seconds further back to capture the No. 3 spot and in a thrilling finish, Watauga sophomore Isadora McCracken (1:19.40) was out-touched by Freedom’s Neyli Lopez-Rodriguez (1:19.30) for the No. 6 and No. 7 team points.
Roster depth again proved fruitful for the Pioneers in the Women’s 100 Free, with a trio of underclassmen leading the way in capturing three of the top five finishes. Crawley, still a freshman, took No. 1 (57.20) ahead of Alexander Central’s Reese Sturgill (No. 2, 57.71), while another Pioneer freshman, Powell, was No. 3 at 59.51. Vannoy earned the final Pioneer team points in the event in finishing No. 5 (1:06.38).
In the Women’s 500-Yard Freestyle, Watauga’s Wilson, Martin and Staeheli gutted out the longer distance for the No. 1 (5:27.71, No. 3 and No. 4 finishes. St. Stephens’ Brabandt broke up the Pioneer sweep in finishing No. 2 (5:28.53).
The Pioneers picked up another 32 team points by finishing No. 1 in the Women’s 200-Yard Freestyle Relay, with Buchanan, Powell, Wilson and Elliott topping the field in 1:47.33, well ahead of No. 2 St. Stephens (1:55.95).
Watauga again took three of the top five places in the Women’s 100 Backstroke, with freshman Crawley (1:03.16) edging South Caldwell’s Bolick (103.66). The Pioneers’ Kent was No. 3 (1:09.62), followed by Freedom’s Gracie Farris at No. 4 (1:13.57) and Watauga junior Amelia Bennett at No. 5 (1:13.71).
Alexander Central’s Sturgill (1:13.08) tapped out Watauga’s Buchanan (1:14.27) for top honors in the Women’s 100-Yard Breaststroke. South Caldwell picked up valuable team points with Spartan athletes taking three of the next four spots, with Wasson (1:14.31) going No. 3, just a fraction behind No. 2 Buchanan. More Watauga team points were picked up by Ireland Laxton at No. 8 and Grace Lesesne at No. 9.
The final women’s event, the Women’s 400-Yard Free Relay was a thriller, with Watauga’s foursome of Kent, Powell, Crawley and Martin (3:57.78) edging out South Caldwell’s Felts, Wasson, Bolick and Westerfield (3:58.58).
The final Women’s Division team scores:
- Watauga 359
- South Caldwell 238
- Freedom 194
- St. Stephens 189
- Alexander Central 120
- McDowell 27
MEN’S DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS
Eventual team champion in the Men’s Division, South Caldwell started off on the right foot, so to speak, by capturing the Men’s 200-Yard Medley Relay. The Spartan quartet of Owen Griffith, Mason Hubbard, Max Clark and Nate Hall churned to the No. 1 finish in 1:48.17, well ahead of Freedom’s No. 2 foursome of Sean Causby, Braden Cullen, Nicholas Chiota and Rex Jones in 1:51.31. Watauga was No. 3 (1:59.63) thanks to the efforts of Andrew Larson, Aiden Culpepper, Stacy Eggers and Philly Fredenburg.
St. Stephens’ Logan Kelly (1:43.23) found himself on the top of the podium in the Men’s 200-Yard Free with Freedom’s Chiota at No. 2 (1:55.65), both well ahead of a Pioneer duo at No. 3 and No. 4, Eggers (2:02.29) and Culpepper (2:13.38), respectively.
The Pioneers didn’t get their first Men’s Division No. 1 finish until Event 6, the Men’s 200-Yard Individual Medley, where sophomore Lanson Gilbert (2:09.54) swamped the field. McDowell’s Kai Ly was No. 2 (2:17.22), followed by St. Stephens’ Gunner Smith at No. 3 (2:21.14).
In the Men’s 50 Free, South Caldwell’s Griffith put down a sizzling 21.72 to take the conference championship, followed by McDowell’s Smith Owens (23.11) and Watauga’s Silas Powell (23.36).
The Spartans’ Griffith became a double winner by taking the Men’s 100-Yard Butterfly (52.67), almost five seconds ahead of Watauga’s Michael Makdad at No. 2 (57.26). St. Stephens’ Smith was a distant No. 3 at 1:01.62.
In the Men’s 100 Free, the excitement came down to the No. 2 and No. 3 finish, where McDowell’s Owens (No. 2, 51.30) was a fraction faster than Watauga’s Powell (No. 3, 51.72). St. Stephens’ Logan Kelly raced to a blistering No. 1 finish in 46.37.
Watauga dominated the longer distance, Men’s 500 Free event in going 1-2 with Gilbert winning in 5:19.21, followed by Eggers at No. 2, in 5:41.17.
That Pioneer duo wasted little time in helping Watauga to even more team points as part of the Men’s 200 Freestyle Relay, along with Makdad and Powell swimming the other two relay legs. Watauga’s winning time was 1:35.63. Freedom’s quartet of Chiota, Braden Cullen, Causby and Jeffrey Gomez-Andres was No. 2 (1:39.87).
Watauga picked up valuable team points in the Men’s 100-Yard Backstroke, with Culpepper at No. 3 (1:04.33), Larson at No. 4 (1:13.27) and freshman Sam Cheves at No. 6 (1:22.53). The class of the field though was No. 1 Causby of Freedom, the only swimmer under a minute at 59.96, followed by No. 2 Clark of South Caldwell (1:01.22).
The Men’s 100-Yard Breastsroke was another thriller, with Watauga’s Makdad (1:04.58) finishing a mustache ahead of McDowell’s Ly (1:04.77). Freedom’s Cullen was well off the winners’ pace at No. 3 (1:10.54).
In the final Men’s Division event of the night, the Men’s 400-Yard Free Relay, Watauga closed the gap on final team champion South Caldwell when the Pioneer foursome of Culpepper, Makdad, Powell and Gilbert (3:32.81) finished less than a fingernail ahead of the Spartans’ Hall, Ethan Haas, Clark and Griffith (3:32.87).
The final Men’s Division team scores:
- South Caldwell 281
- Watauga 271
- Freedom 208
- St. Stephens 172
- Alexander Central 101
- McDowell 52
