SALISBURY | If this keeps going, they may have to rename the swimming portion of the Central Carolina Conference.
The Central Davidson Conference may be more appropriate.
For the third straight year, the Spartans claimed the boys' and girls' CCC championships Wednesday at the Salisbury YMCA.
West Davidson's women posed a serious threat during the entire competition. And when Kelly Ann Baird won the 500 freestyle for the Dragons, Central's somewhat comfortable lead was trimmed to 112-108. But Lindsay Yarbrough won the 100 back, Anna Beck and Jordan Regan finished third and fourth in the 100 breast, then Central's 400 freestyle relay team of Liane Burris, Ashley Mills, Elizabeth Glover and Yarbrough edged West in the meet's final event. When the waves settled, the Spartans finished with 172 points, followed by West, 146, Salisbury, 126, Ledford, 73, East Davidson, 41, North Rowan, 33, and Lexington, 9.
Central coach Chad Hench was confident his team could pull out the close win when the meet got tight. "Going into that backstroke, we had four girls capable of finishing in the top eight," he said. "We designed it that way; the girls knew what they had to do.
"They all just went out and plowed through that event. After that, we had a little bit of breathing room."
Yarbrough had won the 50 freestyle earlier in the day.
Winners for West were the 200 medley relay team of Jessica Frazelle, Dylan Spake, Mary Beam and Kacie Allred, Baird in the 200 IM, Spake in the 100 fly and the 200 free relay team of Allred, Frazelle, Beam and Baird.
Ledford's Adrienne Graeub won the 100 free.
There was absolutely no drama on the men's side. The Spartans piled up win after win en route to 199 points, followed by East Davidson and North Rowan with 95 each, West Davidson, 86, Salisbury, 67, Ledford, 40, and Lexington, 10.
The Spartans' 200 medley relay team of Matt Kirk, Austin Martin, Matthew Allred and Clay Vickers won the meet's first event, and Central rolled from there. Martin won the 200 IM and 100 breast, Vickers won the 50 free and 100 free, and Allred won the 100 fly and 100 back.
Hench was expecting big things from his men's team, and they did not disappoint. "Things went about like I expected them to," he said. "We had some boys go low on some of their times, which I was proud of.
"We had a lot of top finishes. We've just got a good, solid overall team and a deep team. We've got a lot of kids capable of good times, and that showed in today's meet."
Winners for West were Gavin Spake in the 200 free and 500 free and the 400 free relay team of Spake, Noah McCarn, Michael Lewis and Carson Chrisley.
Jason Queen can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 220, or at jason.queen@the-dispatch.com.