By: Ella Weathers, Editor, and Shield Staff
The NCISAA state swimming meet took place in Charlotte, North Carolina, this year. Head Coach April Savage, who also teaches sophomore English, led the team as they prepared to the best of their abilities to perform well this year in the state meet. Savage is in her first year of coaching NRCA swimming.
During the season, NRCA competed in the TISAC, home to many schools that are highly competitive in swimming.
The following athletes competed for the Knights at the state meet:
Annalee Caveney - 200 Freestyle, 100 Backstroke
Jonah Newton - 200 Freestyle
Landon Handschumacher - 200 Freestyle, 100 Backstroke
Mallory Jacobs - 200 Individual Medley, 100 Butterfly
Addison Crisson - 200 Individual Medley, 100 Breaststroke
Kameron Barnhill - 200 Individual Medley, 100 Breaststroke
Kobe Barnhill - 200 Individual Medley, 100 Breaststroke
David Soliman - 200 Individual Medley, 100 Butterfly
Zoe Richardson - 50 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle
Drew Dewar - 50, 100 Freestyle
Robbie Burns - 50 Freestyle, 100 Butterfly
Drew Caracio - 50 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle
Lewis Musselman - 50 Freestyle
Josh Dewar - 50, 100 Butterfly
Elizabeth Neilson - 100 Butterfly
Ella Weathers - 100 Butterfly, 100 Freestyle
Jonah Ridlehoover - 100 Breaststroke
Olivia Savage - 4X100 Freestyle Relay
At the state meet, eighth-grader Addy Crisson placed sixth in both her finals, and junior David Soliman placed sixth and ninth in his finals. The boys 200 freestyle relay placed in the top eight, and the girls 200 freestyle relay placed ninth. NRCA’s girls swim team came in 12th overall in the state, and the boys swim team finished eighth overall.
“Our biggest competitors this year were Charlotte Latin, Charlotte Country Day, and Cary Academy. We put our all into this meet and tried our best to prepare, knowing we would compete against incredible teams,” sophomore swimmer Elizabeth Neilson said.
The swim team had many individual student successes from swimmers who put their all into swimming with hopes of continuing after high school. Many of these swimmers take part in travel swimming outside the Knights' program. Each swimmer on the team had personal goals for the season.
“This season [my goals were] to drop time and make states for the 100-butterfly event. I achieved both of those goals and dropped ten seconds, so I would say this season went extremely well for me, and I'm more than happy with what I accomplished,” Neilson said.
With new changes and a new coach, this season was very much about getting the team to bond as well as introducing several new middle schoolers to the team. “Overall, we had fun as a team getting to know each other, along with our new coach, Mrs. Savage,” Neilson said.
