2025 NCISAA Swimming & Diving Championships – Division III

• February 10, 2025
• Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina
• Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
• Full Meet Results

A National Record by senior Elle Scott led the Charlotte Country Day girls to their second consecutive North Carolina private schools 3A state title, while the Ravenscroft boys won a nail-biter that came down to the final relay.

Girls’ Recap

Top 5 Teams:

1. Charlotte Country Day Buccaneers – 385
2. Providence Day Chargers – 314
3. Cary Academy Chargers – 313
4. Charlotte Latin Hawks – 216
5. Durham Academy Cavaliers – 178

US Junior National Team member Elle Scott was the star of the meet, setting a new National Record for independent high school swimmers in the 100 breaststroke final.

She swam 58.56 in prelims to break the record before marking 58.93 in finals at the end of a long day of racing, with both prelims and finals coming on the same day.

Her heats swim broke the record that was set in 2018 by Alex Walsh of Harpeth Hall School in Nashville, done when she was just a sophomore. Walsh swam 58.88 at the Tennessee State Championship meet that year before going on to a decorated career at the University of Virginia, where she is currently a 5th year. Walsh is a two-time Olympian for the USA.

The overall and public schools record still belongs to current USC Trojan Kaitlyn Dobler, who swam 58.35 in 2020.

Scott falls somewhere between Walsh and Dobler in terms of opening pace in this race. That sort of falls in line with her general versatility.

She also picked up wins at the meet as the breaststroke leg of Charlotte Country Day’s 200 medley relay, where she split 27.42 on the breaststroke leg. The rest of that team included Taylor Klein (26.08 – backstroke), Caroline Mallard (23.89 – fly), and Cate Wickerham (24.29 – free). Everyone besides Scott returns to that relay next season, and they won the event by almost six-and-a-half seconds.

Scott also won the 200 IM in 1:56.60, and anchored the winning 400 free relay at the end of the meet with a 48.87 closing split. That relay included Esme van Orden (50.95), Kaylee Daniell (51.23), and Wickerham (53.27).

Scott is committed to swim at Cal next season and is already almost a second clear of the Golden Bears’ best breaststroker this season – Margaux McDonald, who swam 59.53 at ACCs last week.

The Purdue commit Mallard, who swam the fly leg on that winning 200 medley relay (and outsplit every butterflier and freestyler in the field) also picked up a dominating win in the 100 fly in 53.34, shaving .02 seconds off her previous best. Her teammate Taylor Klein finished 2nd in 54.00.

Mallard was runner-up in the 50 free in 23.30 behind junior Caden Martin of the Cary Academy Chargers.

Martin also won the 100 free to sweep the sprint free events, touching in 49.35 ahead of van Orden (51.17).

Those are both second-straight state titles for Martin, though last year she swept the events at Arkansas’ 1A-4A state meet. Martin is committed to Virginia for fall 2026.

Along with a pair of runner-up finishes from Caroline He (100 breast in 1:02.39, 200 IM in 1:59.61) helped Cary Academy to a third-place finish after finishing 2nd last year.

Mallard also led CCD to a win in the other relay, the 200 free relay, without Scott. She split 23.38 on the leadoff leg, and joined with Klein (23.32), Kaylee Daniell (23.88), and Van Orden (23.27) for the win.

Meanwhile, Providence Day School jumped from 4th last season to runner-up this season on the strength of a strong middle distance crew. In the 200 free, Zetta Bartee won in a best time of 1:48.82, successfully defending her title from last year, while Clarke Neace finished 3rd in 1:49.48. Neace then won the 500 free in a new best time of 4:47.98 – in an event that she didn’t even swim at last year’s state meet. That’s a 1.51 second drop for her.

Mens’ Recap

Top 5 Teams:

1. Ravenscroft Ravens – 339
2. Charlotte Latin Hawks – 336
3. Cary Academy Chargers – 257
4. Durham Academy Cavaliers – 223
5. Charlotte Country Day Buccaneers – 222

On the boys’ side, the Ravenscroft Ravens pulled off a narrow three-point upset over the defending champions from Charlotte Latin. Last year, Charlotte Latin won by 196 points. This year, the meet came down to the final lap of the final relay.

With Ravenscroft and Charlotte Latin the heavy favorites on paper, whichever team won the boys’ 400 free relay would take the meet.

The two teams used very different lineup strategies. Ravenscroft led off with their best, Mattaus Rammel, and jumped out to a big lead. Charlotte Latin did just enough to give their best swimmer, Junior National Team member Norvin Clontz, a shot at the end.

But ultimately, Ravenscroft senior Drew Davis, racing from the front, had just enough to hold off Clontz’s 44.58 split at the touch.

Side-by-Side Splits

Charlotte Latin started the meet off with a win in the 200 medley in 1:32.07, with a team of David Sammons (23.50 – backstroke), Clontz (25.08 – breaststroke), Bryce Spangler (22.66 – fly), and Thomas Greathouse (20.83 – free) winning by a second-and-a-half over Ravenscroft. Sammons is only a freshman, but still managed the second-best backstroke split of the field behind Granger Bartee from Providence Day (22.40).

Sammons swam only a pair of relays at the meet and no individual events.

Ravenscroft’s runner-up effort in the medley relay was led by a 21.13 fly split from Rammel.

Ravenscroft then won the 200 free relay in 1:25.51, with another narrow-win – though this time they were holding off the Cannon Cougars.

Kaleb James (21.26), Frank Hassell (22.28), Jackson Bubar (21.20), and Drew Davis (20.87) took the win with an all senior relay. Cannon was .03 seconds behind, with senior John Kroll splitting 20.46, but Davis again holding on for the win.

A lot of those big relay swimmers showed up again at the top of individual podiums. Bartee, after his electric medley relay leadoff, won the 100 free in 45.04 and the 100 back in 48.48. He ends his high school career with six state titles: two won as a freshman (100 fly and 200 free), then the 100 back as a sophomore, 100 free as a junior, and now both the 100 back and 100 free as a senior.

Kaleb James from Ravenscroft won the 100 breaststroke in 56.78, holding off Bryce Spangler from Charlotte Latin (57.03) in another close race that could have swung the meet.

John Kroll, who nearly overcame Ravenscroft in the 200 free relay, did overcome them in the individual 50 free. He won in 20.61, beating out Rammel in 20.89.

Rammel came back after the diving break to win the 100 fly in 47.68.

Clontz, meanwhile, picked up a win in the 200 free in 1:36.67, an All-America time, over Charlotte Country Day sophomore Santi Alzate-Celin (1:39.00).

In the 500 free later in the session, Alzate-Celin got his clapback, winning in 4:23.83 to Clontz’s 4:25.93.

Those two races were the same finish order between the same two swimmers as last year’s state meet, though last year’s results were a bit faster in those events in general.

Durham Academy’s Ian Platts-Mills won the 200 IM in 1:47.34, setting a new NCISAA Record. That was his first individual state title in his last meet before matriculating to Cal in the fall. He also finished 2nd in the 100 back behind Bartee.