Cedar Ridge Swimming

Cedar Ridge freshman J.E. Sandor had a memorable first high school debut at the Orange County Sportsplex on Monday night. Sandor broke the school record in the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 57.03 seconds, automatically qualifying for the 3A Central Regionals in February. In the final event of the night, Sandor teamed with Christopher Seawell, Zion Green and Phillip Cauwels to win the 400 yard freestyle relay, finishing at 3:47.10. It was a successful opening night for the Cedar Ridge men’s team, which won all five of its dual meets against Central Conference opponents. The Red Wolves defeated Orange, the defending Central Conference champions. Sandor also finished second in the 100 yard breaststroke, also qualifying for regionals. Walter Williams Liam Miller narrowly beat Sandor to the wall in the breaststroke, winning by .17 of a second. Sandor, Seawell, Cauwels and Jacob Olmstead finished 2nd in the 200 yard medley relay with a time of 1:53.43. Sandor has been swimming from a young age and joins his teammates every weekday morning at the Sportsplex for practice. After a successful start to the season, the Cedar Ridge men’s and women’s swimming teams will return to action on Thursday, December 19 against Western Alamance and Williams at the Burlington YMCA.

Cedar Ridge freshman swimmer J.E. Sandor discusses record setting opening night

Cedar Ridge freshman J.E. Sandor had a memorable first high school debut at the Orange County Sportsplex on Monday night. Sandor broke the school record in the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 57.03 seconds, automatically qualifying for the 3A Central Regionals in February.

There’s making an immediate sensation and there’s what Cedar Ridge freshman J.E. Sandor did on Monday night.

In his first high school meet, Sandor broke the school record in the 100 yard butterfly, immediately qualifying for the Central Regionals at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in February.

In addition, Cedar Ridge women’s relay team of Quinn McCrimmon, Margaret Payton, Natalie Kunz and Sophia Stinnett won the 400 yard freestyle relay. The Red Wolf 200 yard freestyle relay team of Stinnett, McCrimmon, Payton and Hala Zafar came close to breaking the school record in a runner-up finish to Orange. The Lady Panthers’ Ainsley Rasinske, Zoe Jones, Piper White and Reilly Jermyn won the event at 1:44.63.

It completed a big start to the season for the Red Wolf swimming team. Both the men’s and women’s squads won all five of its dual matches against Central Conference opponents, including victories over defending conference champion Orange at the Orange County Sportsplex on Monday. The Red Wolves men’s team won 71-67 over the Panthers. The Cedar Ridge women edged the Lady Panthers 88-79. Cedar Ridge also won over Eastern Alamance, Western Alamance, Southern Alamance and Walter Williams.

Orange senior Luke Roman, the defending 3A 500 yard freestyle state champion, already earned a spot in regionals in his top event last week. On Monday, he finished ahead of Sandor and also took the 200 yard individual medley, qualifying for regionals with a time of 2:05.21. His teammate, senior Nick Baczara, finished second at 2:16.42, also earning a spot in Greensboro.

Cedar Ridge’s Christopher  Seawell won two individual events. He took the 200 yard freestyle at 1:54.60, topping the runner-up by 20 seconds. Seawell also took the 100 yard backstroke at 1:00.92, beating out the 2nd place finisher by 12 seconds.

The Red Wolves’ Phillip Cauwels won the 500 yard freestyle at 5:25.49. Orange’s Ayden Twiddy came in second and earned an automatic spot at regionals at 5:40.65. Cauwels also earned a spot in regionals at 100 yard freestyle at 54.29, finishing second behind Western Alamance’s Eamon Hipps. Orange’s Noah Jones came in 3rd, punching his ticket to Greensboro at 57.50.

In the final event of the night, the Cedar Ridge men’s 400 yard freestyle relay team of Seawell, Sandor, Cauwels and Zion Green finished 1st at 3:47.10, beating the runner-up finisher by 53 seconds.

Orange’s Ayden Twiddy qualified for regionals in the 50 yard freestyle, finishing second at 24.18 seconds. Hipps won the event at 23.29.

Sandor also earned a spot in the 100 yard breaststroke at 1:09.38, finishing second. Walter Williams Liam Miller edged out Sandor for first place by .17 of a second.

Orange’s men’s 200 yard freestyle relay team of Baczara, Noah Jones, Jason Spey and Roman won the 200 yard freestyle relay at 1:37.91.

Stinnett, who won two regional championships last year, won the 100 yard backstroke at 1:05.47. Stinnett also finished second in the 500 yard freestyle at 5:41.26.

McCrimmon, another Cedar Ridge senior, won the 100 yard butterfly at 1:09.28.

Jermyn, in her second high school meet, won the 100 yard breaststroke (1:18.47). She also teamed with Rasinske, Jones and Piper White to win the 200 yard medley relay. The Orange women’s team won dual meets against Western Alamance, Southern Alamance, Western Alamance and Walter Williams.

Piper White swept the 50 and 100 yard freestyle. White, who was a member of two state championship relay teams last year, won the 50 yard freestyle at 25.95, holding off Payton for second place. Both qualified for regionals. White took the 100 yard freestyle at 1:00.79, beating Kunz for second. Cedar Ridge’s Eden Pollard finished third.

Also earning a spot in regionals for the Cedar Ridge women: Kunz in the 200 yard freestyle (3rd at 2:17.25); McCrimmon in the 200 yard individual medley (4th place at 2:31.25); Pollard in the 20o individual medley (5th at 2:39.14); Payton in the 50 yard freestyle (2nd at 27.33); Payton in the 500 yard freestyle (3rd at 6:05.14).

Also earning a spot in regionals for Orange was Jones, who finished second in the 200 yard individual medley and fourth in the 500 yard freestyle (5:57.33); Rasinske, who came in second in the 200 yard freestyle (2:19.79); and Addison Moore, who came in 5th in the 500 yard freestyle and 4th in the 100 yard backstroke.

The Cedar Ridge women’s swimming team had a big start to the season in its season-opening meet at the Orange County Sportsplex on Monday night. Quinn McCrimmon, Margaret Payton, Natalie Kunz and Sophia Stinnett won the 400 yard freestyle relay and automatically qualified for regionals in the final women’s event of the night. Stinnett won two Central Regional championships in 2023 individually in the 500 yard freestyle and the 100 yard backstroke. She finished third in the state in the backstroke. On Monday night, Stinnett qualified for regionals by winning the 100 yard backstroke at 1:05.47. McCrimmon won the 100 yard butterfly, also earning a spot in regionals, at 1:02.41. Kunz, in her first high school meet, finished third in the 200 yard freestyle at 2:17.25. The Cedar Ridge women won all five of its dual meets to open the season, including beating the defending Central Conference champions Orange 88-79. The Red Wolves also defeated Southern Alamance, Walter Williams and Western Alamance to finish the night with four wins. McCrimmon, Stinnett, Payton and Hala Zafar also qualified for regionals in the 200 yard freestyle relay, where they finished second behind Orange’s team. The Cedar Ridge women’s team won the 2023 Central Conference championship under head coach Amanda Jones and is off to a promising start for the 2024-2025 season. Their next meet is slated for Friday against Southern Alamance and Eastern Alamance at New Millennium Fitness in Burlington.

Cedar Ridge’s Sophia Stinnett, Quinn McCrimmon, Margaret Payton & Natalie Kunz talk start to season

The Cedar Ridge women’s swimming team had a big start to the season in its season-opening meet at the Orange County Sportsplex on Monday night. Quinn McCrimmon, Margaret Payton, Natalie Kunz and Sophia Stinnett won the 400 yard freestyle relay and automatically qualified for regionals in the final women’s event of the night.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior swimmer Nikhil Agans. In February, Agans finished seventh in the 200 yard freestyle during the 3A State Swimming Championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary. Agans also finished eighth in the 100 yard freestyle. In January, Agans won two Central Conference Championships at the Orange County Sportsplex. He earned the gold medal in the 100 yard freestyle, setting the school record of 1:51.70. He also teamed with Phillip Cauwels, Jacob Olmstead and Christopher Seawell to win the 200 yard freestyle relay. In 2023, Agans finished fifth in the 100 yard freestyle in the 3A State Championships. In February, Agans finished third in the 200 yard freestyle at the Central Regional Championships in the Greensboro Aquatic Center. He also finished third in the 100 freestyle. Agans has been the most consistent male swimmer for Cedar Ridge swimming the past four years, qualifying for the state championships three times. He has made All-Central Conference each of the past three years. In 2023, Agans won the conference championship in the 200 freestyle He broke two school records during his stint with the Red Wolves. Nikhil will graduate next month during a ceremony at Red Wolves Stadium after making his mark in the swimming pool for four years.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Nikhil Agans

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This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior swimmer Sophia Stinnett. Last week at the 3A State Swimming Championships, Stinnett finished third in the state in the 100 yard backstroke. It was her first medal in the State Championships. At the Greensboro Aquatic Center on February 3rd, Stinnett won two Central Regional championships. She claimed the gold medal in the 500 yard freestyle and the 100 yard backstroke. It was the third time that Stinnett qualified for the state championships. Stinnett first reached the state championships as a freshman. In her sophomore season, she finished 6th in the 500 yard freestyle at the state championships. She finished 11th in the state in the 200 yard freestyle. This season, Stinnett won an individual Central Conference championship for the third time in her career. Stinnett captured the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:31.96. In 2022 and 2023, Stinnett won the conference title in the 200 yard freestyle. Stinnett was also part of the relay team for Cedar Ridge that won the 400 yard freestyle conference championship. Stinnett, Quinn McCrimmon, Hala Zafar and Sierra Godfrey captured the championship at 1:47.82. High school swimming season is over for Stinnett, but her club season continues this month and into the spring. This is the third time that Stinnett has earned Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Sophia Stinnett

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Cedar Ridge junior Sophia Stinnett has won three Central Conference championships over the past three years. She wasn’t expecting the same level of success as she went into the Central Regional championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center on Saturday night. Yet Stinnett came away with her first two regional titles in her career. Stinnett won the 100 yard backstroke regional championship, finishing at 1:01.17. She beat out Alexis Krzyzaniak of Durham School of the Arts, who clocked in at 1:03.42. Stinnett also captured the gold medal in the 500 yard freestyle, finishing the longest event in swimming at 5:15.59. Avery Shopping of Carrboro was the runner-up at 5:22.86. Stinnett won the 500 freestyle in the Central Conference championship last week at the Orange County Sportsplex in Hillsborough, where she finished at 5:31.96. Also on Saturday, Stinnett claimed the silver medal with in the women’s 400 yard freestyle relay. Stinnett swam the anchor leg with Quinn McCrimmon, Hala Zafar and Sierra Godfrey. They finished with a time of 4:08.14, which earned them a spot in the 3A State Championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary on Thursday. This will be the third year in a row that Stinnett has participated in the state championship meet. This time, she will go as a two-time Central Regional champion.

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Swimming is unique in the way it bonds Cedar Ridge and Orange participants. For one thing, the competitors usually practice together many winter mornings at the Orange County Sportsplex. Perhaps that’s why when the Central Conference Championships were held last Thursday at the Orange County Sportsplex, the relay teams for Cedar Ridge and Orange asked to do the post-meet interview together. It was a victorious night for both relay teams. Cedar Ridge’s 200 yard freestyle relay team of Phillip Cauwels, Jacob Olmstead, Christopher Seawell and Nikhil Agans won the conference championship with a time of 1:42.33. Cauwels, Olmstead, Seawell and Agans automatically qualified for the 3A Central Regionals, which will be held this Saturday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. Orange’s 200 yard medley team of Alex Andre, Luke Roman, Nick Baczara and Ayden Twiddy won two conference championships. They captured the 200 yard medley relay, finishing at 1:53.13. Andre, Roman, Baczara and Twiddy also won the 400 yard freestyle relay at 3:38.46. It was a huge night for several individual swimmers. Roman, a junior, was named the Central Conference Male Swimmer of the Year for the second time in his career. Cedar Ridge’s Seawell, a freshman, won his first individual conference title in the 50 yard freestyle at 25.24 seconds. Baczara and Andre each won two individual championships. 

Cedar Ridge and Orange’s men’s swimming relay team’s talk their Central Conference championships

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This weekend, Cedar Ridge’s 400 yard freestyle relay team will compete in the 3A Central Regional Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. Last Wednesday in the Central Conference Championships at the Orange County Sportsplex, the team of Quinn McCrimmon, Sophia Stinnett, Sierra Godfrey and Hala Zafar claimed the conference title in the 400 yard freestyle relay, ending with a time of 4:19.23. Stinnett, a junior, spam the anchor leg in 27.19 seconds, beating Western Alamance’s Adriana Carmon to the wall. McCrimmon, who opened for Cedar Ridge, captured the conference championship in the 100 yard butterfly earlier in the night. McCrimmon finished at 1:04.66. Last year, McCrimmon won the conference championship in the 200 yard individual medley. Stinnett, a junior, claimed an individual conference championship for the third year in a row. She won the 500 yard freestyle for the first time in her career, closing with a time of 5:31.96. In 2022 and 2023, Stinnett won the conference championship in the 200 yard freestyle. McCrimmon also finished with the silver medal in the 200 yard individual medley.  Zafar, a sophomore, came away with the bronze medal in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:25.81. The championship by the relay team helped the Cedar Ridge women’s swimming team finished second in the Central Conference team standing. The 3A Central Regional championships will get underway at 4 o’clock on Saturday afternoon.

Cedar Ridge’s McCrimmon, Zafar, Stinnett & Godfrey talk winning the conference 400 relay title

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It was senior night for the Cedar Ridge men’s and women’s swimming teams at the Orange County Sportsplex last week. On Wednesday night, senior Nikhil Agans won two gold medals at the Central Conference Swimming Championships at the SportsPlex. Agans won the 100 yard freestyle, where he finished with a time of 51.39 seconds. Last year, Agans won the conference title in the 200 yard freestyle, where he holds the school record of 1:51.70. In 2023, Agans finished fifth in the 100 yard freestyle in the 3A State Championships. In addition, Agans teamed with Phillip Cauwels, Jacob Olmstead and Christopher Seawell to win the 200 yard freestyle relay. They fiinshed with a time of 1:42.33. In his career, Agans has broken the school record in the 200 yard freestyle twice. Also, Catherine Latham celebrated senior night. On Wednesday night, Latham teamed with Alyssa Judkins, Jaylyn Brown and Emily Habib to finish fourth in the conference in the 200 yard freestyle relay. Latham also teamed wit Sierra Godfrey, Habib and Sarah Latham in the 200 yard medley relay with at time of 2:31.36. Latham also qualified for the conference championships in the 100 yard butterfly, where she finished seventh. She finished sixth in the 100 yard breastroke. Agans will continue his senior season in the Central Regionals at the Greensboro Aquatic Center next Saturday.

Cedar Ridge swimming’s Nikhil Agans & Catherine Latham discuss Senior Night

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This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sophomore swimmer Quinn McCrimmon. Last week, McCrimmon competed in two events at the 3A State Swimming Championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary. In the 200 yard individual medley, McCrimmon finished 13^th in the state with a time of 2:24.19. McCrimmon also qualified for the 100 yard butterfly. She finished 13^th in the state, as well, in the butterfly as she touched the wall at 1:03.94. Last month in the Central Carolina Conference championships at the Orange County Sportsplex, McCrimmon won the conference championship in the 200 yard individual medley. She took the bronze medal in the 100 yard butterfly. In the 400 yard freestyle relay, McCrimmon teamed with Abbygale Pearce, Sophia Stinnett and Hala Zafar to finish 2^nd in the conference with a time of 4:17.65. This was the first time that McCrimmon had a chance to swim in the state championships. In her freshman year, Cedar Ridge was forced to miss the state championships because of a COVID outbreak. Now that Cedar Ridge swimming has reached the offseason, McCrimmon will work with her travel team in preparation for next winter when her junior season begins.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Quinn McCrimmon

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