North Carolina High School 4A Swimming and Diving State Championships
- February 9-10, 2022
- Triangle Aquatic Center, Cary, North Carolina
- 25 Yards (SCY)
- Full Results
Over the weekend swimmers from across North Carolina met at the Greensboro Aquatic Center to compete at the 4A Swimming and Diving State Championships. On the women’s side, Myers Park came away with its second straight state title, while Providence broke a five-year streak of victories from Green Hope.
Women’s Meet Recap
The Myers Park women came out fast, starting the meet off with a three-second victory in the 200-medley relay. During prelims, the team of Kayman Neal, Avery Klamfoth, Kiley Wilhelm, and Sofia Plaza combined to reset both the 4A and overall state records, finishing in 1:42.07. They were slightly slower during finals, finishing .03 off their prelims swim in 1:42.10 to win by over three seconds. Myers Park would go on to sweep the relay events, also winning the 200 free relay (1:35.05) and 400 free relay (3:24.60).
The 200 free saw Green Hope sophomore Mere Whelehan claim the first of her two titles, finishing in 1:47.52. After entering finals seeded second to senior Hayley Clark, a senior at Chapel Hill and Princeton commit, she dropped two seconds from her prelims time to claim the gold medal. She also picked up her second win later in the meet when she touched first in the 100 free with a time of 50.42.
The second individual event of the day was also won by an underclassman, with freshman Avery Klamfoth of Myers Park edging out Florida commit Grace Rainey for the gold in the 200 IM. Klamfoth, who was a multiple-event finalist at the 2022 Junior National Championships, stopped the clock at 1:58.01. The pair would later battle again in the 100 breast, with Rainey coming out ahead in a time of 1:00.27. She was slightly faster during prelims, setting the 4A and State record with a time of 1:00.12.
After tying for the top seed during prelims, Parker Bolduc of Cardinal Gibbons claimed first in finals by nearly four-tenths of a second, touching in 22.94.
The 1-meter diving event saw Ragsdale senior Bayleigh Cranford narrowly miss the 4A state record, finishing just 10 points short of the mark set in 2015. Cranford finished with a score of 497.05, well clear of runner-up Madeline Bays’ 436.40.
After setting the state record in the 200 IM last year, SwimSwam’s #2 recruit in the class of 2023 Kiley Wilhelm returned this season to win both the 100 fly and 100 back. In the fly, she led the field by nearly three seconds, finishing in 51.20 over South Mecklenburg’s Molly Donlan. In the back it was Donlan who again took second, with Wilhelm winning in 53.27. Wilhelm is set to swim for Harvard this fall, where she will make an immediate impact with times that will not only lead the Ivy League, but also score points at the NCAA Championships.
Sophomore Nicole Zettel picked up her first state title in the 500 free, finishing in 4:48.37.
Team Scores
- Myers Park – 290
- Charlotte Catholic – 188.5
- Green H0pe – 173
- Needham Broughton – 153.5
- Apex Friendship – 142
Boy’s Meet Recap
The boy’s side of the meet also started off with a state record falling, with Marvin Ridge finishing just .04 under the previous record in the 200 medley relay. The team of Charles Heisig, Jordan Willis, Troy Keen, and Michael Rice came away with the victory by a narrow margin, with Providence finishing just .07 behind. The entire Marvin Ridge relay will return next year, giving the team a chance to further lower their record.
A year after finishing 20th in the event, Panter Creek senior and University of North Carolina commit Keith Williams finished with the top time in the 200 free. One of just two swimmers to finish under 1:40, Williams stopped the clock at 1:39.11.
In one of the tightest races of the meet, seniors Ben Delmar (Providence) and Colin Whelehan (Green Hope) finished just .04 apart in the race for the 200 IM state title. Winning by that narrow margin was Delmar, who stopped the clock at 1:48.78. The pair will have plenty more opportunities to square off against each other in the coming years, as both are set to swim for UNC this fall.
The 200 IM was followed by an even closer race, as only .01 separated the top two spots in the 50 free. With both Wells Walker and Sean Setzer finishing under the previous 4A state record, Walker narrowly came out ahead with his time of 20.19. The 50 free wasn’t his only record of the meet as he added the 4A record during prelims of the 100 free, touching in 44.57. He was just off of that time in finals, winning in 44.64. Walker is set to join the NC State Wolfpack this fall.
The 100 fly went to Leesville Road junior Matt Marsteiner, who came away with the top time of 48.03. He picked up a second state title a few events later when he took first in the 500 free, finishing over five seconds ahead of the field in 4:21.88. Second place in the event went to another Marsteiner, freshman Sam, who touched at 4:27.55. Marsteiner, the 12th-ranked recruit in the class of 2024, is committed the swim for NC State in after his high school graduation next spring.
After setting a pair of state records earlier in the meet, Wells Walker anchored the Needham Broughton 200 free relay as the team won in 1:24.31. Walker entered the water second, splitting a 20.07 to put his team well ahead of the field. Needham Broughton also closed the meet out with a relay win, setting the 4A and state record in the 400 free relay. Walker led off (44.94), with Gus Wiggins (46.46), Wilson Tuttle (46.68), and Clem Camacho (45.55) following.
Picking up the win in the 100 back was junior James Bennison of Heritage. Bennison touched at 48.92 to take the gold.
After setting the 200 IM record earlier in the meet, Ben Delmar was one of three boys under the previous 4A record in the 100 breast. He was ultimately edged out in the race by sophomore Grayson Nye of Middle Creek who touched in 54.13. Delmar was second in 54.29 while Mason Hetzell of Corinth-Holders was also under the previous record in 54.36.
Team Scores
- Providence – 203
- Marvin Ridge – 192
- Needham Broughton – 168
- Leesville Road – 135
- Green Hope – 129