On Saturday, February 5, the West Carteret Swim teams competed in the NCHSAA 3A East Regional Swim Meet at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary, NC. For the first time in Patriot history, the women’s team placed regional runner-up with 208 points. The men finished third with 259 points, just 4 points below First Flight– who took second place.
Adeline Cloutier, Stella Higgs, Bennett Sanborn, and Ashlyn Lewis started the meet off strong, claiming first place in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:57.27. Cameron Johnson, Kai Taylor, Briggs Cloutier, and Colton Ellis continued that momentum in their 200 medley relay, securing second place with a time of 1:45.28. This fire carried through to the 200 freestyle relay where the men (Cameron Johnson, Cooper Law, Colton Ellis, and Briggs Cloutier) dominated first place with a time of 1:33.89– outracing Croatan by two seconds. The same women from the first relay secured second place with a solid time of 1:47.92. The 400 freestyle relay finished the meet with the women (Ruby Parker, Megan Stoll, Cate Siebert, and Stella Higgs) taking eleventh with a time of 4:51.90 and the men (Lukas Taylor, Braxton Morris, Kai Taylor, and Cooper Law) finishing in fourth place with a time of 3:44.92.
Individual events went just as well. Freshman Adeline Cloutier made a statement in her high school regional debut, dominating first place in both the 50 freestyle (24.13) and the 100 butterfly (57.43). Sophomore Ashlyn Lewis secured third place in the 50 freestyle (26.66) and fifth in the 100 freestyle. Bennett Sanborn, sophomore, claimed second place in the 100 freestyle (57.88) and fifth in the 200 freestyle.
Sophomore Cameron Johnson dominated his return to regionals with first place finishes in the 100 butterfly (54.03) and the 500 freestyle (4:55.18). Junior Kai Taylor secured a third place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.81). Cooper Law, junior, came 7th in the 100 butterfly (1:02.51) and eleventh in the 50 freestyle. Junior Colton Ellis, finished ninth in the 100 freestyle (55.14) and tenth in the 100 breaststroke. Lukas Taylor, junior, finished ninth in the 100 breaststroke (1:11.88) and thirteenth in the 200 freestyle. Sophomore Braxton Morris took eighth place in the 100 backstroke (1:06.49) and tenth in the 200 freestyle.
Our senior Patriot swimmers competed in their last highschool regional meet. Megan Stoll finished thirteenth in the 100 yard breaststroke after dropping four seconds to end with a time of 1:30.71. Stella Higgs medaled in second place, after dropping three seconds in her 100 breaststroke to secure a time of 1:15.13. Briggs Cloutier medaled in second place for both his individual races: the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.15 and the 100 freestyle with a time of 48.91.
Those who finished top six in their events are ready to continue this success in their State meet the following weekend. The men of the 200 yard freestyle relay are seeded second in the state by 0.6 of a second, and they are determined to claim the title of state champions. All of these swimmers are diving in head first, excited to compete on February 11 at Triangle Aquatic Center for the NCHSAA 3A State Swim Meet.
