Providence Day’s girls, Cary Academy’s boys win NCISAA swim championships

Zetta Grace Bartee’s final lap as a high school swimmer put the finishing touch on a goal that she and her Providence Day teammates had been seeking all season.

Bartee swam the anchor leg on a 400-yard freestyle relay team that won the event Monday evening and completed an N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association Division 1 state championship.

It was the first state swim crown ever for Providence Day.

Cary Academy won the NCISAA Division 1 boys’ title at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, despite not winning a single event.

Bartee, a three-time state champion in the 200 freestyle and an Auburn commit, was upset in her specialty event Monday evening, but she helped her Charger teammates grab the bigger prize.

Winning the state title was a goal that she and coach Kristina Bond talked about in the preseason.

The Chargers did it with room to spare, totaling 380 points. Two-time defending girls’ state champ Charlotte Country Day (298) was second.

Providence Day didn’t have any individual champions Monday, but the Chargers won the 200 medley and 400 free relays.

Add in a number of second- and third-place finishes from Bartee, Zona Smith, Annie Shall and Maddy Boland, and the Chargers had points to spare.

The girls’ individual standouts were a pair of Cary Academy swimmers. Caden Martin, a Virginia commit, won the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races in record time, breaking marks she had set a year ago. And Caroline He won the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke.

Durham Academy’s Yari Brock set a record in winning the 200 freestyle, and she also captured the 500 freestyle.

Cary Academy depth

Cary Academy’s victory in the boys’ competition was a textbook case of winning with depth. The Chargers had only two swimmers finish in the top three — runner-ups Steven Zhou He (200 individual medley) and Nathaniel Ye (100 breaststroke). But they filled the results sheet with other top-seven finishers and edged runner-up Charlotte Latin 317-299.

The outstanding individual boys’ swimmer was Ravenscroft’s Mattaus Rammel, who plans to swim at Ohio State. He won the 50 freestyle and then took the 100 butterfly, breaking an event record he had set last year.

Charlotte Latin sophomore David Sammons also had a big meet. Sammons set a record in the 200 freestyle, finished second in the 100 butterfly, and swam on victorious 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams.

Girls’ results

TEAM SCORING (top 10 teams)

1. Providence Day 420; 2. Charlotte Country Day 328; 3. Cary Academy 271; 4. Charlotte Latin 244; 5. Durham Academy 180; 6. Carmel Christian 148; 7. North Raleigh Christian 105; 8. Ravenscroft School 89; 9. Metrolina Christian 63; 10. Charlotte Christian 59.

200 MEDLEY RELAY

1. Providence Day (Maddy Boland, Annie Shall, Zetta Grace Bartee, Zona Smith), 1:42.97; 2. Cary Academy, 1:43.71; 3. Charlotte Country Day, 1:44.18.

200 FREESTYLE

1. Yari Brock (Durham Academy), 1:47.61 (breaks record of 1:48.79, set in 2016 by Mary Pruden of Ravenscroft); 2. Zona Smith (Providence Day), 1:49.67; 3. Zetta Grace Bartee (Providence Day), 1:49.71.

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY

1. Caroline He (Cary Academy), 1:59.14; 2. Annie Shall (Providence Day), 2:02.94; 3. Addison Crisson (North Raleigh Christian), 2:05.99.

50 FREESTYLE

1. Caden Martin (Cary Academy), 22.41 (breaks record of 22.48 set in 2025 by Martin); 2. Caroline Mallard (Charlotte Country Day), 23.29; 3. Maddy Boland (Providence Day), 23.41.

500 FREESTYLE

1. Yari Brock (Durham Academy), 4:51.63; 2. Karlin Smith (Charlotte Latin), 5:04.34; 3. Reese Gail (Charlotte Latin), 5:05.86.

100 BUTTERFLY

1. Taylor Klein (Charlotte Country Day), 53.16 (breaks record of 53.34 set in 2025 by Caroline Mallard of Charlotte Country Day); 2. Caroline Mallard (Charlotte Country Day), 53.23; 3. Zetta Grace Bartee (Providence Day), 55.43.

100 FREESTYLE

1. Caden Martin (Cary Academy), 49.32 (breaks record of 49.35 set in 2025 by Martin); 2. Zona Smithy (Providence Day), 50.79; 3. Maddy Boland (Providence Day), 50.87.

200 FREESTYLE RELAY

1. Charlotte Country Day (Taylor Klein, Kaynee Daniell, Sophia Ruiz, Caroline Mallard), 1:35.05; 2. Charlotte Latin, 1:37.19; 3. Providence Day, 1:37.76.

100 BACKSTROKE

1. Elise Berl (Carmel Christian), 54.15; 2. Taylor Klein (Charlotte Country Day), 54.89; 3. Erin Greathouse (Charlotte Latin), 56.91.

100 BREASTSTROKE

1. Caroline He (Cary Academy), 1:01.93; 2. Annie Shall (Providence Day), 1:02.46; 3. Addison Crisson (North Raleigh Christian), 1:05.81.

400 FREESTYLE RELAY

1. Providence Day (Maddy Boland, Georgia Howard, Zona Smith, Zetta Grace Bartee), 3:25.19; 2. Cary Academy (3:30.78); 3. Charlotte Latin, 3:33.03.

Boys’ results

TEAM SCORING

1. Cary Academy 317; 2. Charlotte Latin 299; 3. Ravenscroft School 253; 4. Charlotte Country Day 252; 5. Providence Day 248; 6. Cannon School 157; 7. Durham Academy 117; 8. Forsyth Country Day 96; 9. High Point Wesleyan 87; 10. Charlotte Christian 85.

200 MEDLEY RELAY

1. Charlotte Country Day (Santi Alzate-Celin, Austin Yang, Andy Butler, Griffin Cagle), 1:34.74; 2. Cannon School 1:35.62; 3. Providence Day, 1:37.20.

200 FREESTYLE

1. David Sammons (Charlotte Latin), 1:35.94 (breaks record of 1:36.67, set in 2025 by Norvy Clontz of Charlotte Latin); 2. Santi Alzate-Celin (Charlotte Country Day), 1:37.63; 3. Teddy Peterson (Cannon School), 1:39.84.

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY

1. Hanrison Short (Charlotte Latin), 1:52.55; 2. Steven Zhou-Hi (Cary Academy), 1:53.42; 3. Tripp Cooler (Cannon School), 1:53.56.

50 FREESTYLE

1. Mattaus Rammel (Ravenscroft), 19.29; 2. Thomas Greathouse (Charlotte Latin), 21.01; 2. Dean Hamid (Providence Day), 21.60.

500 FREESTYLE

1. Santi Alzate-Celin (Charlotte Country Day), 4:24.59; 2. Teddy Peterson (Cannon School), 4:31.62; 3. Griffin Cagle (Charlotte Country Day), 4:32.30.

100 BUTTERFLY

1. Mattaus Rammel (Ravenscroft), 45.02 (breaks record of 47.59 set in 2025 by Rammel); 2. David Sammons (Charlotte Latin), 47.02; 3. David Davis (Ravenscroft), 49.64.

100 FREESTYLE

1. Thomas Greathouse (Charlotte Latin), 45.95; 2. Dean Hamid (Providence Day), 47.75; 3. Reid Cooler (Providence Day), 47.86.

200 FREESTYLE RELAY

1. Charlotte Latin (Thomas Greathouse, Tyler Dugan, Ben Spiegler, David Sammons), 1:25.96; 2. Ravenscroft, 1:27.24; 3. Providence Day, 1:28.96.

100 BACKSTROKE

1 David Davis (Ravenscroft), 50.86; 2. Harrison Short (Charlotte Latin), 51.86; 3. Colin Nicolay (Forsyth Country Day), 52.54.

100 BREASTROKE

1. Tripp Cooler (Cannon School) 57.78; 2. Nathaniel Ye (Cary Academy) 59.05; 3. Austin Yang (Charlotte Country Day) 59.90

400 FREESTYLE RELAY

1. Charlotte Latin, 3:09.34; 2. Ravenscroft School, 3:11.40; 3. Charlotte Country Day, 3:12.12.

This story was originally published February 9, 2026 at 10:31 PM.