Swimming and Diving

HSOT All-State team, final statewide top 25 rankings for girls swimming & diving

The final top 25 rankings were led by runaway No. 1 Myers Park. The Mustangs had eight selections on the all-state team, including a record four first-teamers.

Posted 2023-04-02T13:13:54+00:00 - Updated 2023-04-02T13:13:54+00:00

The NCHSAA 3A State Swimming Championships were help at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary on Saturday, February 8, 2020. Chapel Hill boys won the team state finals and Charlotte Catholic High School girls won the team state finals.
(Photo By: Beth Jewell/HighSchoolOT.com)

The third-annual HighSchoolOT girls swimming & diving all-state team and final top 25 rankings listed below were led by runaway No. 1 Myers Park. The Mustangs had eight selections on the all-state team, including a record four first-teamers.

Girls Swimming & Diving All-State Team

The swimming & diving team lists two athletes for each event for first, second, and third team, all based on N.C. High School Athletic Association or N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association championship performances.

In some events, there were ties across different classifications. In order to determine the points, the tiebreaker was podium placement (a 1A champ got the higher spot if tied with the second-place swimmer in 4A).

If the athletes were still tied, they were each given a spot on the all-state team. On this year's team, two swimmers in the 50 freestyle tied for the final spot on the third team.

Sixteen different athletes made this year's team in two events: Myers Park's Avery Klamfoth, Kayman Neal, Sofia Plaza, and Kiley Wilhelm, D.H. Conley's Emily Armen, Durham Academy's Eva Boehlke, Hough's Grace Rainey, Chapel Hill's Hayley Clark, Orange's Katie Belle Sikes, Marvin Ridge's Kaylee McDonald, Green Hope's Mere Whelehan, South Mecklenburg's Molly Donlan, Apex Friendship's Nicole Zettel and Sydney Holfelder, Green Level's Samantha Armand, and Providence Day's Zetta Grace Bartee.

Rainey, McDonald, and Wilhelm have now amassed six all-state selections over the last three years while Donlan has four. Sikes, Whelehan, Armand, and Broughton's Taylor Morris each have four. Armen, Boehlke, Clark, Plaza, Ragsdale's Bayleigh Cranford, and Broughton's Elena Dry each have three.

Those making their second appearance on the all-state team, aside from those who made it twice this season, were Hough's Clarke Neace, Charlotte Catholic's Leyla Sleime, Broughton's Lily Welsh, Lake Norman Charter's Madi Varnum, Eno River Academy's Mary Shanahan, and Green Hope's Mia Jeltema.

The full teams are listed below, with players listed in order of their championship times.

First Team

diving: Bayleigh Cranford, Ragsdale (senior) — 497.05, 4A champ
diving: Madi Varnum, Lake Norman Charter (junior) — 450.40, 3A champ
200 free: Mere Whelehan, Green Hope (sophomore) — 1:47.52, 4A champ
200 free: Hayley Clark, Chapel Hill (senior) — 1:48.79, 2nd in 4A
200 IM: Avery Klamfoth, Myers Park (freshman) — 1:58.01, 4A champ
200 IM: Grace Rainey, Hough (senior) — 1:58.54, 2nd in 4A
50 free: Katie Belle Sikes, Orange (junior) — 22.83, 3A champ (State Record)
50 free: Parker Bolduc, Cardinal Gibbons (senior) — 22.94, 4A champ
100 fly: Kiley Wilhelm, Myers Park (senior) — 51.20, 4A champ
100 fly: Molly Donlan, South Mecklenburg (senior) — 54.16, 2nd in 4A
100 free: Katie Belle Sikes, Orange (junior) — 49.45, 3A champ (3A Record)
100 free: Mere Whelehan, Green Hope (sophomore) — 50.42, 4A champ
500 free: Nicole Zettel, Apex Friendship (sophomore) — 4:48.37, 4A champ
500 free: Hayley Clark, Chapel Hill (senior) — 4:50.99, 2nd in 4A
100 back: Kiley Wilhelm, Myers Park (senior) — 53.27 ,4A champ
100 back: Eva Boehlke, Durham Academy (senior) — 54.29, NCISAA D1 champ
100 breast: Grace Rainey, Hough (senior) — 1:00.27, 4A champ (State Record)
100 breast: Avery Klamfoth, Myers Park (freshman) — 1:00.56, 2nd in 4A

Second Team

diving: Madeline Bays, Weddington (senior) — 436.40, 2nd in 4A
diving: Colleen Hudson, Northwest Guilford (senior) — 432.85, 3rd in 4A
200 free: Clarke Neace, Hough (sophomore) — 1:49.88, 3rd in 4A
200 free: Zetta Grace Bartee, Providence Day (sophomore) — 1:50.07, NCISAA D1 champ
200 IM: Nicole Zettel, Apex Friendship (sophomore) — 1:59.46, 3rd in 4A
200 IM: Sofia Plaza, Myers Park (junior) — 2:00.47, 4th in 4A
50 free: Emily Armen, D.H. Conley (junior) — 23.31, 2nd in 4A
50 free: Sydney Holfelder, Apex Friendship (sophomore) — 23.42, 3rd in 4A
100 fly: Zetta Grace Bartee, Providence Day (freshman) — 54.44, NCISAA D1 champ
100 fly: Elena Dry, Broughton (senior) — 54.65, 3rd in 4A
100 free: Emily Armen, D.H. Conley (junior) — 50.58, 2nd in 4A
100 free: Hannah Wachendorfer, Northern Guilford (senior) — 50.79, 3rd in 4A
500 free: Kara Martinson, Weddington (senior) — 4:55.29, 3rd in 4A
500 free: Amanda Ulicny, Millbrook (senior) — 4:56.24, 4th in 4A
100 back: Molly Donlan, South Mecklenburg (senior) — 54.37, 2nd in 4A
100 back: Alyssa Claborn, Lake Norman (sophomore) — 54.80, 3rd in 4A
100 breast: Samantha Armand, Green Level (senior) — 1:01.04, 3rd in 4A
100 breast: Sofia Plaza, Myers Park (junior) — 1:02.96, 4th in 4A

Third Team

diving: Sydney Soto, Langtree Charter (senior) — 432.60, 1A/2A champ
diving: Vivian Brennan, Riverside of Durham (sophomore) — 431.10, 4th in 4A
200 free: Isabel Wolk, East Chapel Hill (freshman) — 1:50.08, 4th in 4A
200 free: Kaylee McDonald, Marvin Ridge (junior) — 1:50.16, 5th in 4A
200 IM: Eva Boehlke, Durham Academy (senior) — 2:00.52, NCISAA D1 champ
200 IM: Lily Ann Willis, Green Level (sophomore) — 2:01.02, 5th in 4A
50 free: Audrey Wolk, East Chapel Hill (junior) — 23.52, 4th in 4A
50 free*: Lily Welsh, Broughton (senior) — 23.65, T5th in 4A
50 free*: Samantha Armand, Green Level (senior) — 23.65, T5th in 4A
100 fly: Mary Shanahan, Eno River Academy (junior) — 54.67, 1A/2A champ
100 fly: Kayman Neal, Myers Park (junior) — 54.75, 4th in 4A
100 free: Sydney Holfelder, Apex Friendship (sophomore) — 51.08, 4th in 4A
100 free: McKenna Patrick, Cuthbertson (junior) — 51.19, 5th in 4A
500 free: Kaylee McDonald, Marvin Ridge (junior) — 4:56.46, 5th in 4A
500 free: Leyla Sleime, Charlotte Catholic (senior) — 4:59.14, 6th in 4A
100 back: Kayman Neal, Myers Park (junior) — 54.88, 4th in 4A
100 back: Taylor Morris, Broughton (senior) — 55.29, 5th in 4A
100 breast: Sydney Sanders, Charlotte Catholic (senior) — 1:02.99, 5th in 4A
100 breast: Mia Jeltema, Green Hope (sophomore) — 1:03.40, 6th in 4A

*tie for final spot

Final Statewide Top 25

Myers Park's dominating season placed them 126 points ahead of second place, helping them take the top spot in the final HSOT statewide rankings for the second straight season.

Final rankings are calculated by lumping all finals performances from the N.C. High School Athletic Association and N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association championships into one "super meet." Only times from the top heat (top eight finishers) were considered.

Due to the nature of the statewide rankings, girls 3A champ Carrboro and 1A/2A champ Lincoln Charter were both unranked while NCISAA D1 champ Cary Academy was tenth. However, Orange, which was fourth in 3A, finished 15th while Elkin, which was second in 1A/2A, was tied for 21st, and Charlotte Latin, which was second in NCISAA D1, was seventh.

Myers Park, Green Hope, Hough, Charlotte Catholic, and Marvin Ridge were all top-10 for the second year in a row.