Falcons Bring Home Hardware at the NCISAA State Meet

Lulu Brase
The varsity boys and girls swim team traveled to Greensboro last Wednesday, February 10th to complete in the NCISAA Division 3 State Swim Meet. With strong relay performances and individual records and championships, the Falcons saw both the Girls and Boys team finished 3rd overall!

Reflecting on the meet, Head Coach Jen Schmitz shared, “On the girl’s side, I was impressed with the versatility of this team. The team had some holes to fill, which meant some girls had to focus on developing new strokes to keep relays competitive and young swimmers had to step into varsity events to help the team succeed. On the boy’s side, our team was ready and prepared to swim fast, beating their finish last year by seven places! Overall, Coach Daniel and I couldn’t be prouder of both teams and want to say a special thank you to our senior leadership of team captains Molly Kuzma and Tim Richardson for mentoring and leading our younger swimmers!”

Wednesday’s state championship meet was divided into two sessions—girls in the morning, boys in the afternoon. On the girl’s side, the Falcons were led by freshmen Alexis Coates, who brought home two individual state championships on the afternoon in the 200-yard IM and the 100-yard backstroke. Her 59.34 in the 100-yard backstroke was a personal best time and helped Coates repeat as the individual state champion in the event. 

Also scoring for the Falcons in individual events were Molly Kuzma placing 4th in the 200 free and 5th in 100 fly, Michaela Stone placing 7th in the 200 IM, Morgan Lewis placing 10th in the 200 free and 14th in the 100 free, and Emma Sager placing 16th in the 100 backstroke. In the relays, the team of Alexis Coates, Michaela Stone, Molly Kuzma, and Jordin Reed placed 3rd in the 200 medley relay and 2nd in the 200 free relay. While Jordin Reed, Holli Harp, Emma Sager, and Morgan Lewis placed 8th in the 400 free relay. 

Later that afternoon, the boys took their turn in the pool and built upon the morning session success. Led by strong relay performances, the Falcons finished 3rd place overall, moving up seven places from last year’s finish.

Tim Richardson highlighted the afternoon swimming a 1:02.83 in the 100-yard breaststroke to not only set a personal best and finish in third place but also break the 24-year school record set by Doak Finch '96. In his second individual event, Richardson added an 8th place finish in the 100-yard freestyle.

Also scoring for the Falcons in individual events were John Shepherd with a 4th place finish in the 200 free and 5th in the 100 back, Sam Schmitz with a 7th place finish in the 200 free and 14th in the 500 free, Alex Grimshaw finishing 7th in the 200 IM and 7th in the 500 Free, Jace Brown finishing 14th in the 50 free and 14th in the 100 free, and Mathew Fisher placing 15th in the 100 fly. In the relays, the 400 free relay team of John Shepherd, Jace Brown, Alex Grimshaw, and Tim Richardson placed third, and combined for a fourth-place finish in the 200 medley relay. While the relay team of Nathan Brianas, Sam Schmitz, Mathew Fisher, and Charlie Kuzma placed 11th.

Speaking with Athletic Director James Franklin on the varsity swim teams and their efforts throughout the season, he shared, “a lot of hard work goes into competing at this level. Our girls and boys dedicate themselves to endless physical and technical preparation and when we have results like this it makes it all worth it. We are really proud of both our Girls and Boys Varsity Swim Teams and coaches!”
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