State Champions Crowned – Girls Swimming Brings Home Sixth State Title

Lulu Brase
The Varsity Boys and Girls Swim Teams traveled to Cary on Tuesday, February 14th to compete in the NCISAA Division 3 State Swim Meet. With strong relay performances and numerous individual personal bests times, the Falcons saw the boys finish in eighth place overall and the girls' team was crowned Division 3 State Champions! 
In the relays, the Falcons started off the meet on a high note with the relay team of Victoria York, Jordin Reed, Lauren Hobbs, and Michaela Stone coming in second place in the 200 Medley Relay. This same group later competed in the 200-yard Freestyle relay finishing first place with a time of 1:46.38. On the boys’ side, the 200-yard freestyle relay saw success too, as Andrew Davis, Matthew Fisher, Radford Walker, and John Shepherd finished third place overall. 
 
Individually, Victoria York finished in third place in the 100-yard freestyle and fourth in the 100-yard backstroke; Radford Walker finished in third place in the 100-yard butterfly and sixth in the 500-yard freestyle; and John Shepherd finished third in the 100-yard backstroke and eighth in the 200-yard freestyle. Additionally with top ten finishes were Lauren Hobbs in fifth in the 200-yard freestyle and fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke, Jordin Reed in seventh in the 50-yard freestyle and 7th in the 100-yard freestyle, Michaela Stone in 6th in the 50-yard freestyle, Morgan Lewis in seventh in the 200-yard freestyle, Colette Lovsin in eighth in the 200-yard IM and ninth in the 100-yard butterfly, and Andrew Davis in ninth in the 50-yard freestyle and tenth in the 100-yard breaststroke. 
 
As the scores were tallied up, the boys' team finished in eighth place with a total of 146 points in a field of 23 teams, and the girls' team finished as State Champions with a score of 245 beating second place Epiphany School by 20 points. This marks the sixth state championship in O'Neal Girls Swimming history.  
 
“What makes this team special is that they are not just club swimmers,” reflects Head Coach Jen Schmitz. “They play volleyball and soccer, run cross country, compete at track and field, and most importantly are excellent students. The ability to find balance in their life and still flourish in this highly competitive sport says a lot about them as young men and women.” 
 
Congratulations all around to all our Falcon swimmers on a tremendous winter season! 

State Meet  Photos
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