Where do you go from here?
Asking Katie Belle Sikes that question was the best way to get her to hesitate after she captured her first 3A State Championship in February 2022. At the time, it was something she didn’t have a precise answer for.
So much has changed since then.
She’s committed to swim at Georgia. She changed travel teams. She qualified for all eight individual events for the Central Regionals this winter, even though there were less dual meets for her Orange women’s swimming team.
Now, she’s accomplished something that most swimmers only dream of.
On Saturday, Sikes won three gold medals at the NCHSAA 3A State Swimming Championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary. Sikes repeated as champion in the 50 yard freestyle, setting a new state record (regardless of classification) of 22.17 seconds. The time was the 10th fastest ever recorded during a high school meet in American history. It also earned Sikes automatic All-American status.
For the first time, Sikes won the 100 meters state championship. She touched the wall at 49.45 seconds, another automatic All-American time. Sikes’ time was a 3A State Championship record. The state record is held by Teresa Ivan of Ardrey Kell at 49.25 seconds.
Sikes also made history when she swam the anchor league for the first Orange relay team to ever win a state championship. Riley White, Piper White, Ainsley Rasinske and Sikes captured 1st place in the women’s 200 yard freestyle relay at 1:41.04. In a tight race, Sikes swam the final leg in 22.65 seconds, two seconds faster than Northwest Cabarrus’ Caroline Rinker.
White, Rasinske, Sikes and White are the first relay team in Hillsborough history to win a state championship.
Sikes was named the Most Outstanding Female Swimmer of the 3A State Championships, another first-time award for any swimmer from Orange or Cedar Ridge High School.
Last year, Sikes felt more relief than joy after she captured her first state championship. The day, in and of itself, is long. There are preliminaries that start at 9AM, followed by a three-hour wait for finals to begin at 5PM. Last year in between sessions, Sikes got to go back to her grandparents house, Linda and Donald, and take a nap before she became the first Orange female swimmer to win a state championship.
Sikes attributes her better performance in the state championships to a new travel team, Eastern Carolina Aquatics, coached by Claudio Battaglini.
“It definitely helped a lot,” Sikes said. “From the times that I swam and how I broke the record, I owe a lot of that to him. He put a whole program out for me, just for high school and states, and it was really great. My old coach didn’t like high school swimming as much as Claudio does. Claudio is all-in. He knows this is a big meet for everyone and wants me to do much better. We train differently. We did more sprint work and I got to rest a little bit more.”
Sikes now has four state championships for her career. As a freshman in 2021, she finished second in the 50 yard freestyle to Olivia Rhodes of Charlotte Catholic, who edged Sikes by .37 of a second for the state title.
“I reached the goals I set for myself,” Sikes said. “I may have over exceeded a little bit. I definitely wasn’t expecting to set the best time not only for my high school career, but also for my club career. I’m really happy with how I swam.”
After one of the greatest athletic performances in county history, it’s easy to forget that Sikes is a junior. She still has one more year remaining at Orange and finding motivation won’t be hard.
“Honestly, it’s not that hard,” Sikes said. “I love my team and I love my sport. It might seem like I have done everything I can do this year, but I’m just going to go back at it again next year to see how much better I can get.”
The Orange women finished fourth in the team standings. Carrboro came away with the team state championship with 196 points. Orange had 154 points.
In addition to their 200 yard freestyle relay championship, White, Rasinske, White and Sikes finished second in the 200 yard medley relay. They finished behind Central Cabarrus, who beat out Orange by .15-of-a-second.
In the 50 yard freestyle, Piper White finished 10th at 25.78. Piper also came in 10th in the 100 yard freestyle.
Orange’s Riley White came in fifth in the 100 yard butterfly at 59.55 seconds. She finished 7th in the 100 yard backstroke at 1:01.57. Abby Cronin, a sophomore from Central Cabarrus, won the state title at 58.28 seconds.
Cedar Ridge’s Sophia Stinnett finished 6th in the 500 yard freestyle at 5:26.76. She finished 11th in the 200 yard freestyle at 2:02.35.
Another Red Wolves sophomore, Quinn McCrimmon, finished 13th in the 200 yard individual medley at 2:24.19. Maya Lambert of Carrboro came away with the state championship at 2:04.16. Lambert also captured the state title in the 100 yard butterfly.