After winning the DAC-VII conference championship for the fourth consecutive year, the men’s swimming and diving team saw its season come to a close on February 10 in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s 4A state championship.
Four Tiger swimmers finished in the top three in different categories at the conference championship, held on January 25 at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary. Junior Eddie Wang finished first in both the 50-yard freestyle (21.86) and 100-yard breaststroke (1:00.03); freshman Ethan Liang finished third in the 100-yard backstroke (54.43); junior Collin Zhang finished third in the 50-yard freestyle (22.87); and freshman Denali Cutbush-Taylor finished third in the 500-yard freestyle (5:09.85).
“I thought we had an excellent showing at the conference championship,” Liang said. “We had a lot of swimmers have great finishes, and I couldn’t be prouder of what we accomplished.”
Four Tiger swimmers qualified for the state championship, with Wang, junior Andrew Volpe, Zhang, and freshman Ethan Liang competing in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Wang also competed in the 50-yard freestyle, an individual event in which he placed 17th with a time of 21.62. The 200-yard freestyle relay team finished first in the consolation final, with a team time of 1:40.50.
“I am proud of the swimmers who qualified for the state championships,” head coach Greggor Zoltners said. “It’s an extremely difficult competition to qualify for, and they fully deserved to have gotten there.”
In the regional finals held February 2-4 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, the Tigers finished 14th. Wang finished eighth in both the 50-yard (21.79) and 100-yard freestyle events (49.14), and Liang finished 9th in the 100-yard backstroke race (54.68) and 18th in the 200-yard freestyle (1:49.50).
“Being able to compete on the big stage was a big deal for us,” senior captain Ryan Kilgallen said. “We’re definitely proud as a team to be able to send qualified swimmers to these events.”
Senior captain Stephen Hodulik, who swam his last race for Chapel Hill High School at the regional championship, said his four years on the swim team have been a defining part of his high school career.
“Overall, I think we had a solid season,” he said. “I’m forever grateful for Coach Zoltners and my teammates, and it’ll be something I’ll always look back fondly on.”
