Catawba Ridge High School finished three points short of a state championship Thursday, Oct. 8, placing second at the South Carolina High School League Girls 4A State Swimming Championship at the University of South Carolina.
Riverside won the team title with 331 points. Catawba Ridge scored 328, and Lucy Beckham was third with 317. Nation Ford High School placed fourth with 277 points.
Four teams from York and Lancaster counties finished in the top nine of the 28 team field. Indian Land High School was eighth with 167 points, and Lake Wylie High School was ninth with 154. Clover High School placed 22nd with 21 points.
Catawba Ridge comes up three points short
Catawba Ridge won one event title in the pool and one relay, and finished second in two more events.
Amelia Meehan won the 100 backstroke in 55.98, more than two seconds ahead of Nation Ford’s Kenna Zimmerly. She also finished second in the 100 freestyle in 52.08, behind Riverside’s Ansley Brinkman, who won both sprint freestyle events.
Annabelle Gload was second to Brinkman in the 50 freestyle in 23.99 and fourth in the 100 freestyle.
The 200 freestyle relay of Caroline Becker, Emma Russell, Meehan and Gload won in 1:39.83, holding off Riverside by 0.15 seconds. Catawba Ridge’s 200 medley relay of Makenzie Bell, Amelia Wilkerson, Meehan and Gload finished second in 1:49.51.
The margin may have come down to the final event. Riverside’s 400 freestyle relay finished third, while Catawba Ridge placed sixth, a six point difference in relay scoring that matched the swing in the final standings.
Lola McGinnis added a fifth place finish in the 200 individual medley and 10th in the 100 backstroke. Bell placed seventh in the 100 breaststroke.
Nation Ford wins medley relay
Nation Ford’s 200 medley relay of Brittany Fink, Abigail Garcia, Zimmerly and Madeline Gladfelter won the state title in 1:49.00, finishing 0.51 seconds ahead of Catawba Ridge.
Zimmerly placed second in the 100 backstroke in 58.30 and eighth in the 200 freestyle. Garcia finished fourth in the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.61 and ninth in the 100 freestyle. Fink was sixth in the 100 backstroke and eighth in the 50 freestyle.
Nation Ford’s 200 freestyle relay finished fourth, 0.04 seconds out of third, and the 400 freestyle relay placed eighth.
Indian Land and Lake Wylie each earn a podium finish
Indian Land’s Olivia Thorpe finished third in the 100 backstroke in 58.42 and ninth in the 200 freestyle. Sophie Walker placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke and ninth in the 100 butterfly, and Sophie Cline was fifth in the 50 freestyle in 25.24. Indian Land’s 200 freestyle relay and 200 medley relay each finished sixth.
Lake Wylie’s Natalie Heinle placed third in the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.51 and fourth in the 200 individual medley. Madeline Heinle finished fifth in the 500 freestyle in 5:32.11 and swam on both Lake Wylie relays that placed ninth.
Clover scores in two events
Clover’s 400 freestyle relay of Abbigail Perkins, Lauren Beard, Lacey Heideloff and Anya Lynes placed 13th in 4:15.74. Perkins finished 16th in the 500 freestyle.
Catawba Ridge Results
50 freestyle: 2. Annabelle Gload 23.99; 14. Talia Santos 26.27; 18. Emma Russell 26.66
100 freestyle: 2. Amelia Meehan 52.08; 4. Annabelle Gload 54.03; 19. Emma Russell 59.04; 21. Avery Kern 59.24
200 freestyle: 17. Caroline Becker 2:04.69; 18. Grace Thornton 2:07.26; 22. Emerson Girard 2:08.87; 24. Josalynn Huguelet 2:09.85
500 freestyle: 14. Emerson Girard 5:44.24; 17. Grace Thornton 5:48.38; 19. Josalynn Huguelet 5:48.64
100 backstroke: 1. Amelia Meehan 55.98; 10. Lola McGinnis 1:02.54; 17. Payton Roelandts 1:05.03; 19. Avery Kern 1:06.42
100 breaststroke: 7. Makenzie Bell 1:10.34; 9. Amelia Wilkerson 1:10.87
100 butterfly: 16. Caroline Becker 1:04.77; 19. Samantha Roelandts 1:05.45; 25. Sofia DePaola 1:06.47
200 individual medley: 5. Lola McGinnis 2:15.27; 11. Makenzie Bell 2:18.77; 19. Amelia Wilkerson 2:22.99
200 medley relay: 2. Catawba Ridge 1:49.51 (Makenzie Bell, Amelia Wilkerson, Amelia Meehan, Annabelle Gload)
200 freestyle relay: 1. Catawba Ridge 1:39.83 (Caroline Becker, Emma Russell, Amelia Meehan, Annabelle Gload)
400 freestyle relay: 6. Catawba Ridge 3:49.48 (Emma Russell, Lola McGinnis, Caroline Becker, Avery Kern)
Nation Ford Results
50 freestyle: 8. Brittany Fink 25.59; 12. Madeline Gladfelter 26.21
100 freestyle: 9. Abigail Garcia 55.62; 13. Madeline Gladfelter 57.56
200 freestyle: 8. Kenna Zimmerly 2:01.62; 14. Grace Shang 2:04.00; 19. Gabrielle Costa 2:07.47; 25. Elliot Petrus 2:11.22
500 freestyle: 10. Grace Shang 5:35.28; 11. Blakely Hyche 5:35.81; 23. Hannah Harrison 5:56.47; 26. Elliot Petrus 6:01.65
100 backstroke: 2. Kenna Zimmerly 58.30; 6. Brittany Fink 59.63; 27. Armenthia Barrera 1:07.80
100 breaststroke: 4. Abigail Garcia 1:07.61; 20. Mia Ford 1:14.25; DQ Kennedy DeWaele
100 butterfly: 24. Gabrielle Costa 1:06.37; 26. Armenthia Barrera 1:07.15
200 individual medley: 15. Blakely Hyche 2:19.59; 18. Mia Ford 2:22.38; 26. Emma Miller 2:27.61; NS Kennedy DeWaele
200 medley relay: 1. Nation Ford 1:49.00 (Brittany Fink, Abigail Garcia, Kenna Zimmerly, Madeline Gladfelter)
200 freestyle relay: 4. Nation Ford 1:41.56 (Brittany Fink, Kenna Zimmerly, Madeline Gladfelter, Abigail Garcia)
400 freestyle relay: 8. Nation Ford 3:53.21 (Blakely Hyche, Gabrielle Costa, Mia Ford, Grace Shang)
Indian Land Results
50 freestyle: 5. Sophie Cline 25.24; 27. Aspyn Walker 27.49
200 freestyle: 9. Olivia Thorpe 2:02.29
100 backstroke: 3. Olivia Thorpe 58.42; 11. Sophie Cline 1:02.64
100 breaststroke: 5. Sophie Walker 1:08.33
100 butterfly: 9. Sophie Walker 1:01.79
200 medley relay: 6. Indian Land 1:52.52 (Olivia Thorpe, Sophie Walker, Aspyn Walker, Sophie Cline)
200 freestyle relay: 6. Indian Land 1:44.64 (Aspyn Walker, Olivia Thorpe, Sophie Walker, Sophie Cline)
400 freestyle relay: 19. Indian Land 4:53.45 (Avri Cole, Paula Palacios, Cilena Williams, Hanna Baker)
Lake Wylie Results
50 freestyle: 29. Eden Fulton 27.79
200 freestyle: 13. Madeline Heinle 2:03.96
500 freestyle: 5. Madeline Heinle 5:32.11; 15. Leah Pirrello 5:44.29
100 backstroke: 16. Leah Pirrello 1:04.83; 30. Elaina Hodnett 1:09.54
100 breaststroke: 3. Natalie Heinle 1:07.51; 13. Annie Hope Hasty 1:12.02
200 individual medley: 4. Natalie Heinle 2:15.11; 13. Annie Hope Hasty 2:19.11
200 medley relay: 9. Lake Wylie 1:57.83 (Leah Pirrello, Annie Hope Hasty, Natalie Heinle, Madeline Heinle)
200 freestyle relay: 18. Lake Wylie 1:54.89 (Eden Fulton, Nadalie Hoppe, Vanessa Quaife, Elaina Hodnett)
400 freestyle relay: 9. Lake Wylie 3:53.47 (Madeline Heinle, Leah Pirrello, Annie Hope Hasty, Natalie Heinle)
Clover Results
100 freestyle: 28. Anya Lynes 1:01.57
200 freestyle: 21. Abbigail Perkins 2:08.63
500 freestyle: 16. Abbigail Perkins 5:45.14
400 freestyle relay: 13. Clover 4:15.74 (Abbigail Perkins, Lauren Beard, Lacey Heideloff, Anya Lynes)
Source: Official results, 2026 SCHSL Girls 4A State Championships
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Thomas Hyslip lives in Tega Cay with his wife and daughter. After 27 years in the U.S. Army and Federal Law Enforcement, he retired to pursue his passion for teaching. Tom is now an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of South Florida. In 2 short years he has won 10 awards from the South Carolina Press Association, including first place in column writing, education beat reporting and best podcast.
