It wasn’t enough for Cedar Ridge junior Nikhil Agans to break one school swimming record last week.
On Wednesday night, he broke another one.
Competing in the 200 yard freestyle, Agans set another Cedar Ridge school record during the Central Carolina Conference Swimming Championships at the Orange County Sportsplex. Agans won the conference championship in the 200 freestyle with a new mark of 1:51.70. Last year, Agans timed out at 1:56.41 in the CCC Championships.
Agans was one of three Cedar Ridge swimmers to win gold medals. In addition, sophomore Sophia Stinnett captured the conference championship in the 200 yard freestyle. Plus, sophomore Quinn McCrimmon won the 200 yard individual medley and qualified for the 3A Central Regional Championships, which will take place at the Greensboro Aquatic Center next Friday.
On the night, Agans finished with a gold medal in the 200 yard freestyle, as well as a silver medal in the 50 yard freestyle. Facing a field of 18 swimmers, Agans’ time of 23.49 seconds was good enough for 2nd place and a spot in Greensboro.
Last week, Agans broke the school record in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 59.25 seconds, shattering the previous mark by over three seconds.
Agans, who has swam on-and-off since he was six years old, has shown noticeable improvement throughout the season. Like all of his teammates, he wakes up at 5:30 AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays for practice at the Sportsplex, where the Cedar Ridge and Orange swim teams workout together.
“It takes some commitment to wake up early in the morning,” Agans said after last week’s meet against Orange and Walter Williams. “If you really do like swimming, it’s not too hard to wake up. I love my teammates, and I love meets. Not just for the racing, but to talk to people behind the blocks.”
Agans joined sophomore Willem Crittenden, Philip Cauwels and Jason Pattison to finish third in the 400 yard freestyle relay, the final event of the night. The relay team earned a bronze medal.
On the women’s side, Stinnett successfully defended her championship in the 200 yard freestyle. She finished first at 2:05.05. Last year, Stinnett won the 200 freestyle as a freshman at a time of 2:05.28. Stinnett will also be in regionals next Friday.
Stinnett also came away with two silver medals. She finished second in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:34.22. Eastern Alamance senior Braylee Carter won the gold.
Stinnett joined McCrimmon, Abbygale Pearce and Hala Zafar to finish second in the 400 yard freestyle relay. The quartet came in second at 4:17.65, automatically earning a spot in regionals.
The Cedar Ridge women finished second in the team standings. They had 322 points, barely finishing behind first-place Orange, who had 339.
In addition, McCrimmon a bronze medal in the 100 yard butterfly at 1:06.70. Abigail Emrich of Northwood won the gold medal.
The Cedar Ridge men’s team finished 5th in the team standings.
Pattison, a senior who did play-by-play for Cedar Ridge football on Hillsboroughsports.com, earned three bronze medals. He finished third in the 100 yard freestyle at 56.56 seconds. In the 100 backstroke, Pattison touched the wall at 1:07.61.
Cedar Ridge’s Phillip Cauwels had two bronze medals. In addition to the 400 freestyle relay, he finished third in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 6:02.35.