Dynasty! Myers Park girls win fourth straight NCHSAA 4A swimming championship
The Myers Park High girls’ swim team, officially, is a dynasty.
The Mustangs girls won their fourth straight NCHSAA 4A state championship Thursday, becoming the second school to win four or more 4A state championships in a row.
Cardinal Gibbons won the boys’ state championship Thursday, winning its first state title since 2013, when it won a fourth straight 3A championship. Defending 4A boys’ champion Marvin Ridge finished third in the meet, held at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary.
But Myers Park made history.
Since the NCHSAA split the event into multiple classifications in 1992, Providence had been the only 4A team to accomplish that feat. And the Panthers did it twice.
The Panthers won five straight, from 1998-2002. After South Mecklenburg won in 2003, Providence won the next four 4A state titles, from 2004-07.
And there have been other dominant runs, outside of the 4A class:
▪ Greensboro’s Grimsley High, which is a 4A school, won four in a row from 1972-75, when the championship was open classification.
▪ East Chapel Hill won three straight 1A/2A/3A state titles from 1999-01, and won four 3A titles in a row, from 2002-05.
▪ Charlotte Catholic won four straight 1A/2A state titles from 2002-05, then won eight straight 3A championships from 2006-13. After winning those 12 titles in a row, Catholic won four more consecutive 3A titles from 2018-21.
▪ And also in the 1A/2A class, Cardinal Gibbons won four straight from 2006-09, and Raleigh Charter won five in a row, from 2011-15.
But in the state’s toughest and most competitive class, Myers Park joined some elite company, winning its fifth state title. The Mustangs won their first in 1976.
▪ Since 1992, when the NCHSAA started the 4A event, Mecklenburg County teams have won 25 times, including 12 of the past 14.
Inside Thursday’s meet
The 4A girls’ championship was decided in the final event — the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Myers Park’s lead swimmer, freshman Karina Plaza, completed her 100-yard lap almost 2 seconds ahead of Green Hope’s Mia Johema. The Mustangs maintained the lead for the remaining 300 yards and won by .81 of a second.
The Mustangs won two relays, but Emma Richardson and Avery Klamforth also had big meets. Richardson, another of the Mustangs’ freshmen, was second in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly; and Klamforth was second in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke.
In the boys’ meet, Marvin Ridge’s Michael Rice did his best to help the Mavericks repeat as team champion. He anchored the winning 400 freestyle relay team, won the 100 freestyle in 4A meet record time, and finished second in the 50 freestyle.
Rice was named Most Outstanding Swimmer of the boys’ meet. Green Hope’s Sloane Whelehan won that award in the girls’ meet.
In addition:
▪ Charlotte Catholic is the capital of the 4A diving world. Mason Kramer and Reagan Leckner won the boys’ and girls’ 1-meter diving championships. The diving events took place Wednesday at the Pullen Aquatic Center in Raleigh.
▪ Ardrey Kell’s Eliza Wallace won her second straight title, taking the 100 breaststroke.
▪ Green Hope senior Mere Whelehan won the 100 freestyle for the fourth straight year. Providence’s Joslyn Bolton was second, only .2 of a second behind. Bolton also swam third in the 50 freestyle.
Meet results
GIRLS’ TEAM RESULTS
Team scores: Myers Park 260; Green Hope 254.5; Charlotte Catholic 209; Cardinal Gibbons 169; Marvin Ridge 157; Providence 154; Lake Norman 141; Apex Friendship 93; Ardrey Kell 77; Broughton 52.5
Other Charlotte-area teams: 13. Hough; 14. Hopewell; 27. South Mecklenburg; 28. Cox Mill; 38. Weddington; 41. Cuthbertson; 43. East Mecklenburg
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1-meter diving: Reagan Leckner (Charlotte Catholic), 443.35 points; 2. Laila Kwong (East Chapel Hill), 440.45; 3. Vivian Brennan (Riverside), 440.35.
200-yard medley relay: Myers Park (Karina Plaza, Avery Klamforth, Emma Richardson, Taylor Weaver), 1:41.64 (state and 4A meet record; breaks record of 1:42.07, set in 2023 by Myers Park); 2. Lake Norman, 1:43.99; 3. Ardrey Kell, 1:44.32.
200 freestyle: Sloane Whelehan (Green Hope), 1:46.98; 2. Isabel Wolk (East Chapel Hill), 1:47.09; 3. Mere Whelehan (Green Hope), 1:47.90.
200 individual medley: Nicole Zetter (Apex Friendship), 1:58.08; 2. Avery Klamforth (Myers Park), 1:59.41; 3. June Delmar (Providence), 1:59.64.
50 freestyle: Sloan Whelehan (Green Hope), 22.93; 2. Emma Richardson (Myers Park), 20.13; 3. Joslyn Bolton (Providence), 23.25.
100 butterfly: Nikki Nixon (Cardinal Gibbons), 51.84; 2. Emma Richardson (Myers Park), 52.76; 3. Sophia Pero (Hopewell), 54.93.
100 freestyle: Mere Whelehan (Green Hope), 49.96; 2. Joslyn Bolton (Providence), 50.25; 3. Arizona Smith (Charlotte Catholic), 50.70.
500 freestyle: Nicole Zettel (Apex Friendship), 4:48.34; 2. Charlotte LePage (Marvin Ridge), 4:51.78; 3. Katherine Guenther (Myers Park), 4:52.04.
200 freestyle relay: Green Hope, 1:33.20; 2. Myers Park, 1:34.32; 3. Lake Norman, 1:35.55.
100 backstroke: Alyssa Claboro (Lake Norman), 53.44; 2. Shaelyn Shields (Providence), 54.73; 3. Karina Plaza (Myers Park), 54.80..
100 breaststroke: Eliza Wallace (Ardrey Kell), 1:00.06; 2. Avery Klamforth (Myers Park), 1:01.47; 3. Skylar Zulgger (Davie County), 1:02.26.
400 freestyle relay: Myers Park (Karina Plaza, Mary Drummond, Avery Klamforth, Katherine Guenther), 3:23.39; 2. Green Hope, 3:24.20; 3. Providence, 3:26.74.
BOYS’ TEAM RESULTS
Team scores: Cardinal Gibbons 241; Enloe 185; Marvin Ridge 184; East Chapel Hill 148; Myers Park 140; Providence 126; (tie) Reagan, Sanderson 103; Green Level 93; (tie) Ashley, Northwest Guilford 91
Other Charlotte-area teams: 16. East Mecklenburg; 19. Charlotte Catholic; 21. Cuthbertson; 35. Hopewell; 36. (tie) Hough, Hickory Ridge; 38. Weddington; 45. South Mecklenburg
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
1-meter diving: Mason Kramer (Charlotte Catholic), 455.20 points; 2. Jacob Pollina (Northern Guilford), 451.00; 3. Hudson Weinhagen (Holly Springs), 426.70.
200-yard medley relay: Enloe, 1:31.82 (state and 4A meet record; breaks record of 1:32.20, set in 2023 by Marvin Ridge); 2. Marvin Ridge, 1:33.08; 3. Cardinal Gibbons, 1:33.61.
200 freestyle: Clement Camacho (Ashley), 1:37.53; 2. Jackson Scheiber (Athens Drive), 1:38.83; 3. Kyle Wilburn (Cox Mill), 1:39.18.
200 individual medley: Ian Stutts (Enloe), 1:46.26; 2. Alex Townsend (Enloe), 1:46.29; 3. Bence Burton (Reagan), 1:49.99.
50 freestyle: Albert Smelzer (Page), 19.89; 2. Michael Rice (Marvin Ridge), 19.93; 3. Carter Lance (Cardinal Gibbons), 20.82.
100 butterfly: Alex Townsend (Enloe), 47.49; 2. Clement Camacho (Ashley), 47.78; 3. Owen Lin (Northwest Guilford), 48.50..
100 freestyle: Michael Rice (Marvin Ridge), 43.56 (4A meet record; breaks record of 44.57, set in 2023 by Broughton’s Wells Walker); 2. Albert Smelzer (Page), 44.37; 3. Cameron Bucci (Myers Park), 44.90.
500 freestyle: Jackson Scheiber (Athens Drive), 4:25.28; 2. Aaron Davidson (Sanderson), 4:27.31; 3. Liam Drake (Cardinal Gibbons), 4:27.97.
200 freestyle relay: Myers Park (Nolan Schear, Nathan Hohnbaum, Peter Cassidy, Cameron Bucci), 1:23.86; 2. Cardinal Gibbons, 1:24.69; 3. East Chapel Hill, 1:25.04.
100 backstroke: Abhay Tharakan (Apex), 49.32; 2. Leo O’Keefe (Green Level), 49.88; 3. Cody Watts (Sanderson), 50.29.
100 breaststroke: Bence Burton (Reagan), 54.71; 2. Ian Stutts (Enloe), 54.87; 3. Tyler Burton (Reagan), 56.25.
400 freestyle relay: Marvin Ridge (Dylan Stewart, Quinn O’Mara, Mayon Brienza, Michael Rice), 3:04.33; 2. Enloe, 3:05.18; 3. Myers Park, 3:05.78.
This story was originally published February 6, 2025 at 9:43 PM.
