RM's Oliver is NEW 6 Male Swimmer of the Year

Click to view

By Tom Ham
Wilson Daily Times

ROCKY MOUNT -- The Fike girls swim team was warned it needed to win one relay in defending its 3-A NEW 6 Conference championship.

In the third -- and final -- relay, the 400-yard freestyle quartet of senior Sarah Stanley, freshman Lyrica Squires, sophomore Jennifer Eldridge and sophomore Lehn Terdik delivered.

The group's first-place time of 4 minutes, 21.88 seconds, more than 8 seconds ahead of runner-up Southern Nash, was just enough to rally the Lady Golden Demons to a four-point conquest of Southern Nash.

Fike completed a four-year championship sweep in the conference with 203 points, followed by the Ladybirds with 199, Nash Central (173), Rocky Mount (137), Northern Nash (79) and SouthWest Edgecombe (18).

The Lady Demons were not aware they trailed by two points going into the meet's final event Tuesday evening in the Rocky Mount YMCA pool, but seventh-year head coach Mryl Ferrell noted: "We knew it was close; it has been close all year.

"I told the girls that to win (the championship), we needed to win at least one relay.

"When I came over here, I was worried about it. It was not a sure thing. But the girls pulled it out."

A late surge fell short for the Fike boys.

Despite stirring top finishes in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 400-yard freestyle relay -- the last two events -- Fike was unable to overtake favored Nash Central.

Nash Central amassed 232 points, followed by the Demons (219), Rocky Mount (125), Northern Nash (125), Southern Nash (76) and SouthWest Edgecombe (7).

Southern Nash's Brennan Snipes and Rocky Mount's Kyle Oliver were proclaimed the female and male Senior Swimmer of the Year, respectively.

Honored as coaches of the year were Ferrell and Nash Central's Denise Price.

Stanley, the Lady Demons' only senior, also triumphed in the 500-yard freestyle, while Terdik prevailed in the 100-yard backstroke.

Eldridge also sparkled, claiming the 100-yard butterfly. But decisive for Fike was the depth provided by Squires and sophomores Elena Dolman, Beth Hanson and Emily Rhyne.

Ferrell also credited Terri Dugan, her assistant for seven seasons.

"The team did really, really good," added Stanley, top-ranked academically in Fike's senior class. "A lot of people had the best times they've had the whole year."

Stanley explained she performs better in the distance events, commenting: "It went pretty good. It was not my best time (in the 500 freestyle), but it was not a bad time."

Dynamic performances from Snipes and junior Victoria Hardy were not enough for Southern Nash.

Snipes won the 50 and 100 freestyles, and was a member of two victorious relays. She claimed gold in all four of her events. Hardy was also prominent for both winning relays and ruled the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke.

Southern Nash coach Kyle Bain was hopeful victories in two relays would be enough to propel the Ladybirds past Fike.

Hardy realized the last race was crucial, adding: "Everything was important. We were really excited and tried our hardest. Everybody did really well. It depended on what events people were put in."

Snipes was ecstatic about her accolade.

"I was hoping to get gold today and I'm really excited," she assured. "I'm still kind of disappointed (about the team losing by four points), but we still did good. "

Fike's boys failed to overtake Nash Central but, in the final two events, junior Cullen Carter spilled top-seeded Tyler Leggins of Nash Central in the 100 breaststroke (.05 of a second) and, in the 400 relay, rallied the Demons from a three-second deficit on the final leg -- again storming past Leggins.

"Being behind three or four seconds was good for the other three," Carter explained. "We are normally down by six or seven. The last 25 yards, I knew I had it."

Of besting Leggins in the backstroke, Carter said: "That was big-time; I knew I had it in me. Two or three weeks ago, I got out-touched by a 10th of a second. This time, I pushed as hard as I could. Then, I saw him beside me and I knew I could get him."

Junior William Prince notched Fike's other victory in the 100 backstroke.

"The last 25 yards, I pushed as hard as I could," Prince assured.

Fike's boys qualified Carter, Prince, Santiago Arroba, Pablo Arroba and Alex Fleck for the regional, while the girls are sending Stanley, Eldridge, Terdik, Dolman and Squires.

Southern Nash's girls will be represented by Snipes, Hardy, senior Tiffany Alford, senior Brittney Mitchell and sophomore Taylor Massey.