Catawba Ridge’s Ethan Curtis won the 100-yard butterfly for the Copperheads at the Region 3-4A meet. Photos by Rob Upton Photography.

Both Fort Mill and Catawba Ridge won region swim titles respectively Thursday evening while most attention was focused on football.

Fort Mill won the boys and girls Region 3-5A titles, while the Catawba Ridge boys and girls won the Region 3-4A titles. Nation Ford was second in the Region 3-5A competition for the girls and third for the boys. The meets were moved up from Saturday, Oct. 1 to Thursday, Sept. 29 because of weather due to Hurricane Ian coming through the area.

In the 5A meet, Fort Mill girls scored 371 points with Nation Ford right behind them with 269 points. The Fort Mill boys scored 298 points and Spring Valley was second with 213 points. Nation Ford was third with 159 points.

Fort Mill won three of the six relays and Nation Ford won two of them. Spring Valley won the other relay.

Individuals winning for Fort Mill were:

Oliva Corbi – girls 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle

Anna Kate Halligan – girls 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard breaststroke

Jack Dollyhigh – boys 100-yard freestyle

Nation Ford’s Emily Eaton set new school records in the 50-yard freestyle in 24.32 and the 100-yard freestyle in 53.06.

Individuals winning for Nation Ford were:

Nicholas Martin – boys 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle

Emily Eaton – girls 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle

Mackenzie Riga – girls 100-yard butterfly

Sophia Bujoreanu – girls 100-yard backstroke

Up next for both Nation Ford and Fort Mill is the 5A state championship Saturday, Oct. 8 at the USC Natatorium in Columbia.

In the 4A meet, Catawba Ridge girls scored 349 points to win the region title and the Copperheads boys scored 331 points to clinch their region title. Catawba Ridge won just one relay event in the region meet.

Individual winners for the Copperheads were:

Jake Root – boys 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard breaststroke

Alex Ritz – boys 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle

Ethan Curtis – boys 100-yard butterfly

Isabella Meehan – girls 100-yard backstroke

Up next for Catawba Ridge is the 4A state championship meet Friday, Oct. 7 at the USC Natatorium in Columbia.

Tennis

The Nation Ford Falcons girls’ tennis team beat Rock Hill 5-1 during Thursday’s Region 3-5A action. Winning for the Falcons was Tori Baldino 6-4, 6-1; Lauren Padgett 6-0, 6-2; Ava Baldino 6-1, 6-1; Alexa Brenner 6-0, 6-0 and Ansley McDonald and Daniella Fernandez in No. 2 doubles 7-6, 6-0. The win improves Nation Ford to 6-1 in region play.

The Catawba Ridge girls’ tennis team beat Northwestern 4-2 to secure second place in Region 3-4A. Winning for the Copperheads was Mallory McCart 6-3, 6-0; Ava King 6-0, 6-0; Nala Uter 6-1, 6-0 and Sydney Biggers and Gracyn Root in No. 2 doubles 6-4, 6-2. The win gives Catawba Ridge an 8-2 region record to finish up region competition.

Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep

Jack Dollyhigh won two events at the Region 3-5A meet Thursday for Fort Mill.
Nation Ford’s Sophia Bujoreanu won the 100-yard backstroke in the Region 3-5A meet for the Falcons.