A great regular season for the Northwood swim team came to a close here on Thursday evening at Duke University Aquatics Center in Durham as the Lady Chargers captured third place overall as a team in the 3A Big Eight Conference, while also taking home some additional hardware.
Madeline Posse of Northwood captured 3A Women’s Swimmer of the Year honors for the conference while Sara Graham was selected as Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year for the Big Eight Conference.
Graham was extremely proud of her squad and how they grew as the season went on.
“High school sports are not only about winning, and as a coach, my job isn’t just to teach them how to swim but to help foster the development of young adults,” said Graham. “Throughout the season, it was my goal to have everyone try something they had never done before, whether it is going off the block, swimming in a relay, or swimming a stroke they weren’t previously comfortable with.”
Graham relayed this message to her squad before the final Big Eight Conference meet on Thursday evening in Durham.
“I have the confidence that you can do anything that you set your mind to,” Graham pointed out. “And many of my swimmers embodied that with their races this season.”
The Northwood girls 200 Medley Relay won with a time of 1:54.98, the girls 400 Free Relay won with a time of 3:43.60.
Both of Lady Chargers relay teams are going into regionals as the top seed. Madelina Posse, Julia Earnshaw, Suzanne Earnshaw, and Mia Corrado are on both relays.
Posse also won the 200 free in a time of 2:03.72, and the 100 free in a time of 55.47.
Suzanne Earnshaw took 1st in the 200 IM in a time of 2:18.58, out touching her younger sister, Julia Earnshaw, who swam it in a time of 2:18.67. Suzanne Earnshaw also took second in the 100 breast, going a time of 1:11.60. Julia Earnshaw took second in the 100 fly, swimming a time of 1:01.57.
Corrado, meanwhile, won the 500 freestyle with a 5:22.24 and got second in the 100 back with a 1:02.43.
Katie Foye took 8th in the 200 IM and Sarena Gisser took 10th. Gwen Hoeg took 8th in both the 50 and 100 freestyles.
In the 200 Freestyle Relay, Sarah Beck, Sarena Gisser, Katie Foye, and Gwen Hoeg took 4th with a time of 1:57.37.
Sean Foye led the Northwood boys by taking 4th in the 50 free with a time of 24.40 while Sam Earnshaw took 7th in the 100 freestyle.
Up next for the Chargers are the 3A Eastern Regionals in Greensboro this Saturday morning beginning at 7:15 a.m. at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
According to Graham the final psych sheet has not been released, but she anticipates taking approximately 20 swimmers.