GREENSBORO–The Katie Belle Sikes farewell tour made its latest stop in Greensboro, where she achieved her first individual success.
On Saturday, she helped Orange women’s swimming reach its greatest achievement as a team.
Orange came in second in the 3A Central Regional championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, its best-ever finish in the team standings. Orange came away with 239 points. Carrboro rode four first-place finishes to take the regional championship with 353 points.
Sikes won her sixth and seventh career individual regional championships on Saturday. For the fourth year in a row, she won the 50 yard freestyle at 23.11. Her own teammate, sophomore Piper White, earned the silver medal at 25.41.
As a freshman in 2021, Sikes won her first regional championship in the 50 yard freestyle. Sikes will go into the 3A State Championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary as the two-time defending state champion in the 50 free. Last year, Sikes broke the state championship record, regardless of classification, with a time of 22.17 seconds.
Sikes also repeated as the 100 yard freestyle regional champion for the third year in a row. She touched the wall at 51.17 seconds. Once again, White claimed the runner-up spot at 55.82 second. Alexis Krzyzaniak of Durham School of the Arts finished third at 56.94.
In 2023, Sikes won the 100 yard freestyle at 50.99 seconds. She is the defending 100 freestyle state champion, as well.
On the day, Sikes claimed four gold medals, two individual and two relay titles. While she has won individually since her freshman year, Sikes said helping Orange to its best-ever showing as a team meant a lot to her.
“I’ll remember the team culture and getting to be here with all my friends,” Sikes said. “I’ll remember making some fond memories with them and making my coaches proud.”
Cedar Ridge junior Sophia Stinnett, coming off winning the 500 yard freestyle in the Central Conference championships last week at the Orange County Sportsplex, won the first two regional titles in her career. Stinnett claimed the regional championship in the 500 yard freestyle by over seven seconds. Stinnett touched the wall at 5:15.59, beating Carrboro’s Avery Shuping, who finished at 5:22.86.
Stinnett surprised herself with the individual championships.
“I just wanted to have fun and race the people around me,” Stinnett said. “I really didn’t expect to win either of my races. I just had fun and had a good time with my friends.”
Last week, Stinnett won the conference title in the 500 at 5:31.96. She will go into the state championships in the third and final heat. She will look to become Cedar Ridge’s first female state swimming champion since Becca Churchill, who won the 2014 3A title in the 100 backstroke.
Stinnett also won the 100 yard backstroke at 1:01.17. Last week, Stinnett didn’t participate in the 100 backstroke in the conference championships. She qualified for regionals in the 100 backstroke on January 4 during a quad meet with Northern Durham, Chapel Hill, Riverside and Woods Charter.
Orange’s 200 yard freestyle relay team of Sikes, White, Ainsley Rasinske and Riley White captured its second straight regional championship. They finished at 1:41.63. Carrboro’s team of Maya Lambert, Anna Wesley, Frances Reed and Avery Shuping came in second at 1:47.90.
Cedar Ridge’s 200 freestyle team of Stinnett, Hala Zafar, Quinn McCrimmon and Sarah Latham qualified for the state championships with a fourth place finish. Stinnett swam the anchor leg and completed the race at 1:53.06.
Sikes, White, Rasinske and White are the defending 3A State Champions in the 200 yard freestyle. They are the only relay team in school history to win a state championship.
Orange also claimed the 200 yard medley relay regional title. Zoe Jones, White, Sikes and White finished at 1:53.45. Carrboro’s team of Wesley, Reed, Kyla Conner, and Ellie Hill came in second at 2:01.87.
Orange’s Riley White and Cedar Ridge’s Quinn McCrimmon both qualified for the state championships in the 200 yard individual medley. White came in second (2:13.07), behind Carrboro’s Lambert. McCrimmon finished third (2:22.17).
Riley White also finished runner-up in the 100 yard butterfly at 1:00.21. Carrboro’s Lambert took the gold at 58.83. McCrimmon also qualified for the state championships in the butterfly with a fourth place finish (1:03.32).
Orange’s Jones finished 5th in the 500 yard freestyle.
Cedar Ridge also finished 2nd in the 400 yard freestyle relay. McCrimmon, Zafar, Godfrey and Stinnett completed the race at 4:08.14. Carrboro earned the gold medal at 3:52.44.