Charlotte Catholic is still the class of ME-GA 7 3A-4A swimming.

The Cougars, boosted by a strong showing by the sophomore class, ran off with both team championships Saturday at the Mecklenburg Aquatic Center, with the girls scoring 716 points to 329 for Olympic High and 300 for West Mecklenburg. Catholic won all 11 races and nine of the top 10 girls' point-scorers were Cougars, led by Emma Tomaszewski, Lauren Powell and Cara Gilligan with 34 each.

"We're all good friends and we just have fun," said sophomore Maria Sheridan, who won the girls' 100-yard backstroke for the second straight year and has six league titles.

Catholic's boys, led by Nick Rhodes' 40 points, won eight of 11 races and scored 714 to 361 for East Gaston and Olympic's 343. Olympic broke up a Catholic sweep with victories in 200 medley (Brandon Keller 2:00.78), 100 backstroke (Richard Keller, 57.90 seconds) and 100 breaststroke (Damien Smalls, 1.00.74).

Catholic's girls were in a class by themselves. Sophomore Elsa Welshofer swam away with her second straight girls' 100 butterfly title, clocking a dominant 59.55 seconds, seven seconds ahead of teammates Virginia Vasquez-Rios nearly nine in front of Jillian Grace (1:08.49).

"Doing the 100 butterfly is a pretty painful event, so it's never easy," Welshofer said, "but I just like to go out with a good attitude and have fun. My game plan is to go out and set the tempo and then by the (final) 25, round it and go all out at the end."

Catholic sophomore Cameron Hoyer had the meet's most dramatic finish to win the boys' 100 freestyle, pulling away from West Mecklenburg's Sean Williamson in the final 10 yards. Coming out of the final turn, Hoyer, Williamson and Catholic's Kevin Kirby and Ryan Hall were within a head of each other as the crowd roared its approval, but Hoyer's kick during the stretch drive propelled him to a 51.11 clocking. Williamson was second at 51.75; Kirby took third at 52.71 and Hall finished at 52.72.

"I decided I had to give it all right now, kicking harder, swimming faster and stick it at the end," Hoyer said. "It was a little closer than I expected, but when I saw them I decided, you know what? I've got to kick it in."

Sheridan used the championships to refine her execution in preparation for state competition. She's been tinkering with her stroke, and it paid off with a wide margin between Sheridan's 1:00.26 and second-place Gilligan's 1:04.59. Catholic's Megan Almon clocked 1:05.54.

"I've been working on my technique, so I've been making it easier," Sheridan said. "It feels better; it feels rhythmical. I've always been a fan of backstroke, but it's definitely not easy."