2023 North Carolina High School Swimming and Diving 1A/2A State Championships
- February 8-9, 2023
- Triangle Aquatic Center, Cary, North Carolina
- Short Course Yards (SCY)
- Full Meet Results
The smallest divisions of high schools within the state, North Carolina’s 1A and 2A schools met in Greensboro last week to compete at the swimming and diving state championships. The meet featured a pair of repeat title winners with the Lincoln Charter girls and Community School of Davidson boys both claiming the state title for their second straight year.
Girls Meet Recap
Elkin started the meet off strong, cruising to a five-second win in the 200 medley relay to kick off finals. The team of Amelia Presley, Mattie Wells, Morgan Wiles, and Sophie Welborn combined to finish in 1:48.92. The Elkin quartet would later pick up a second relay win, leading the field in the 200 free relay in 1:40.39.
The first individual event of the day went to freshman Taia Schneider of Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy. Competing in her first state final, Schneider bested the rest of the field by over a second, finishing in 1:56.29. She also added a bronze medal later in the meet in the 500 free (5:10.90).
The gold medal in that 500 free went to Union Academy senior Maddilyn Geyer, who is committed to Colorado State for this fall. Geyer finished less than a second off of her lifetime best, stopping the clock at 5:04.76. The 500 free was Geyer’s second state title of the day, as she took gold in the 200 IM earlier in the meet (2:06.39). Geyer is now a four-time NCHSAA 3A state champion after winning the 100 breast and 200 IM in 2022. She also boasts two Louisiana high school state titles, having won the 100 breast at the LHSAA Division 3 State Championships her freshman and sophomore years.
Maddilyn Geyer wasn’t the only member of her family to take home a state title, with freshman Kayda Geyer also claiming gold. The younger Geyer took first in the 100 breast by over three seconds, touching in 1:05.18.
After finishing second in the event a year ago, Burns High School sophomore Alexandra Tysinger upset defending state champion Eliana White in the 50 free. The race was decided by hundredths of a second, with Tysinger coming out on top in 23.93. White would later pick up the state title in the 100 free (52.71). Tysinger took third in that race.
Langtree Charter’s Sydney Soto took first on the diving board, finishing with a score of 432.60.
Joining Geyer as a multiple-event winner on the day was Eno River’s Mary Shanahan. In the 100 fly, Shanahan cruised to a dominant three-second win over the field, touching in 54.67. That performance was only just off of her lifetime best, a 54.58 from a week prior at the Eastern Regionals meet. She followed her swim in the fly with a second gold medal in the 100 back, touching in 55.89. Shanahan has now won the 100 fly and 100 back in consecutive years.
Elkin closed out the meet with it’s third relay title of the day, with Wiles, Presley, and Welborn being joined by Sedessa Hatcher to take first in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:39.72.
Team Scores
- Lincoln Charter – 250
- Elkin – 209
- Community School of Davidson – 193
- Pine Lake Prep – 174
- Union Academy – 173
Boys Meet Recap
The Community School of Davidson started the boys meet off strong on their way to the school’s second straight title, winning in the 200 medley relay over Mountain Island Charter. The team of Austin Hartsell, Luke Weber, Brody Collander, and Riley Hall combined for a time of 1:38.18. Mountain Island would come out on top in the other two relays on the day, taking the 200 free relay in 1:29.70 and the 400 free relay in 3:17.52.
Winning his first state title in the 200 free was TJ Spokas of JM Robinson. Spokas, who is committed to Queens University of Charlotte for this fall, was the only swimmer under 1:40, touching in 1:39.59.
After winning the 500 free last year as a junior, NCSSM-Durham’s Topher Roberts finished as the fastest swimmer in the 200 IM this year. Roberts led the field by almost two seconds, stopping the clock at 1:53.37. He also added a third-place finish in the 500 free (4:48.57).
The first 1A/2A state record of the meet to be taken down came in the 50 free as Burns’ Jacob Jensen came out on top in a time of 20.33. Jensen, who is committed to Gardner-Webb Univeristy for this fall, has seen rapid improvement in the event, dropping nearly a full second over the past two months. As of November, he had never been below 21.0 in the event. Later in the meet Jensen picked up a second state title in the 100 fly, winning in a lifetime best of 49.46.
The 1-meter diving event went to Cornerstone Charter’s George Blake, who finished with a score of 366.20.
After taking second to Jensen in the 50 free earlier in the meet, West Davidson’s Luke Nebrich picked up a gold medal in the 100 free. The junior touched in 45.23, making him the only swimmer in the field faster than 46.0.
Luke Weber, who helped the Community School of Davidson to a state title in the 200 medley relay to open the meet, swam to a dominant win in the 500 free, touching at 4:37.42. He led a field that included a pair of individual event winners with TJ Spokas taking second (4:47.60) and Topher Roberts finishing third (4:48.57).
Mountain Island freshman Beck Armstrong claimed the state title in the 100 back, touching at 53.47.
Team Scores
- Community School of Davidson – 272
- Raleigh Charter – 235
- Mountain Island Charter – 188
- NCSSM – Durham – 178
- Seaforth – 127