CHARLOTTE — To put into perspective just how dominant Hough High's swimmers were at Saturday's I-Meck Championships, it's necessary to list all the events the Huskies won.
However, it may be more telling to initially note the events the Huskies did not win during their first sweep of the conference championships. Other than Lake Norman's victories in the boys' 50-yard freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 400 freestyle relay, Hough swimmers won everything else — 21 of 24 total events — and cruised to victory at Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center.
"I'm just so excited for the kids," said Hough coach Tim Queen. "We kinda thought that we'd win based on (earlier) head-to-head competition, but the kids definitely swam great today. They swam out of their minds."
Hough's girls, second in the I-Meck last year, won by a 649-476 margin over second-place Lake Norman. The Hough boys topped Lake Norman 588-403 to repeat as I-Meck champions.
"We're just real proud of the kids tonight," said Queen.
Hough swept nine events with wins in both boys and girls' competition and actually had three first-place finishes in the 100 butterfly. Peter Brumm won the boys' event in 51.44 seconds, but the crowd erupted when the automatic scoring system revealed that Hough teammates Katie O'Brien and Heather Merritt had touched the wall at exactly the same time — 59.08 — to tie for the win in the girls' event.
And in the boys' 200 individual medley, Hough was 1-2-3 with Andrew Botelho, Trey Poff and Andrew Petry combining for 53 points.
It was just that kind of night for the Huskies, who hope to use the success as a springboard to more in the coming weeks.
"It's an awesome improvement from last year," said Brumm, the University of Michigan recruit. "I think that's what we needed, that confidence going into regionals."
Next, Hough will swim closer to home on Saturday, Feb. 4, at the 4A West Regional at Huntersville Family Fitness and Aquatics Center. Last year, Hough's boys were third, and the Lady Huskies were fifth. The switch to a finals-only format last year has added some drama as swimmers no longer have a preliminary event to warm up. They have to show up ready to swim once and make it count. The top eight per event then move on to states.
"It's kill or be killed, survive and advance at regionals," said Queen.
Brumm was one of five Huskies to win twice individually at MCAC, also posting a win in the 100 backstroke (52.97). Jack Manchester took first in the 200 (1:47.90) and 500 freestyles (4:56.18). Merritt also picked up a win in the 200 individual medley (2:13.20), Emily Allen won in the 100 (52.71) and 200 freestyles (1:56.95), and Ally Dupay was victorious in the 500 freestyle (5:08.80) and 100 breaststroke (1:07.04). Other Lady Husky wins came via Payton Schrum in the 50 freestyle (24.94) and Ali Kitchens in the 100 backstroke (1:01.60).
Hough's Patrick Cowley won the boys' 100 freestyle (49.39) and Botelho's time of 2:06.07 secured the 200 individual medley.
Harrison Mitchell and Blair Timberlake swept the one-meter diving titles with 280.90 and 184.20 points, respectively.
The Huskies' depth and dominance translated in the relay swims as well, with the Huskies winning five of the six events.
Merritt, Dupay, O'Brien and Schrum combined to win the 200 medley in 1:52.86. Allen, Merritt, Schrum and Shannon Bauer took first in the 200 freestyle (1:41.48), and Allen, Bauer, Dupay and O'Brien won the 400 freestyle (3:45.67).
Cowley, Brumm, Manchester and Petry won the boys' 200 medley (1:37.61) and Brumm, Manchester, Botelho and Jeffery Manchester were first in the 200 freestyle (1:29.19).
Logan Heck was a two-event winner for Lake Norman, winning the 50 freestyle (21.14) and the 100 breaststroke (1:00.24). He joined Charles Blinn, Casey Jones and Eduardo Kielmanowicz on the Wildcats' winning 400 freestyle relay team (3:20.87).
North Meck was led by the four runner-up swims of Molly Sanborn and Sean Corcoran. Sanborn, named the league's female swimmer of the year, took second in the 200 (1:58.96) and 500 freestyles (5:14.09). Corcoran was second in the 100 butterfly (53.49) and 100 backstroke (55.17). North finished third in the girls' standings with 229 points and fourth in the boys' championship with 178.
Marc Brittain was the top Hopewell swimmer. He was second in the 100 freestyle (50.01) and third in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.75). The Titans were fifth in the girls' standings with 149 points and sixth in the boys' with 116.
Queen was named the league's coach of the year. Vance's Josh Moore was honored as the top male swimmer.
