CARY — It was a loaded field in Cary Friday at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) 3A Swimming and Diving State Championships held at the Cary Aquatics Center.
But despite all the talent from around the state in the 3A ranks, the Northwood 400 Free Relay team captured fourth place overall to bring a Copper Medal back to Pittsboro.
“I’m so proud of these girls. They’ve worked so hard this season and have improved every day,” said NW coach Sara Graham. “Maddie (Posse) is the lone senior of the relay team and closed her career with a medal. Suzzane (Earnshaw) is only a sophomore, and Julia (Earnshaw) and Mia (Corrado) are just freshmen. So they have a real opportunity to do some more great things in their careers here at Northwood.”
In the 400 Free Relay finals on Friday night, the Chargers competed in what is considered the most grueling relay event due to distance in 3:36.68.
Weddington won the Gold Medal with a time of 3:27.56 while Charlotte Catholic took the Silver with a 3:29.63, and Marvin Ridge the Bronze with a 3:34.32.
The Lady Charger foursome also took 7th in the 200 Medley while Corrado took 15th in the 500 Free and 12th in the 100 Backstroke, while Suzanne Earnshaw notched 13th in the 200 Intermediate and 12th in the 100 Breast Stroke.
Posse added a 13th place finish in the 100 Freestyle while Julia Earnshaw chipped in a finish of 14th in the 100 Freestyle.
The Northwood boy’s team of Nate Little, Lars Hoeg, Sam Earnshaw, and Sean Foye finished 18th overall in the preliminaries in the 200 Free Relay with a time of 1:36.49.
“Our boys relay actually defied all odds and made it to the states,” Graham noted. “They ended up dropping two seconds off their time and made alternate. They put in the work each day and even went to the pool on their own to work on starts and turns. I’m very proud of them.”