By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
2026 Cary, North Carolina Sectionals
March 12-15, 2026 Triangle Aquatic Center, Cary, North Carolina Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals Results on Meet Mobile: “2026 NC TAC Speedo Champions Series ESSZ” Day 1 Recap Day 2 RecapReina Liu picked up two more wins and a number of swimmers added more wins to their ledgers on day 3 of the Cary, North Carolina Sectionals meet.
Girls’ Day 3 Recap
Liu, already with a pair of individual wins under her belt from Friday, snagged two more gold medals and one more best time on Friday.
The first came in the 50 free, where she swam 21.93. That’s her first time under 22 seconds in that race, beating her 22.17 from last year’s spring championship season.
She later added a win in the 100 back in 51.07, just missing her best time of 51.00 from a local meet in January.
Along with two relay wins already at the meet, she now has six victories total in three days of racing.
Liu, 15, has grown up in North Carolina, but represented Canada at the 2024 Junior Pan Pac Championships.
17-year-old Ines Arnall from the Westchester Aquatic Club in New York finished 2nd in 52.83. That is just shy of the 52.82 she win to finished 2nd at the Metro LSC Championships a month ago. Another 15-year-old, Kennedy Brooks from Kentucky, finished 3rd in 53.65, which is a best time.
Kayda Geyer, a senior and Colorado State commit, added to her accomplishments at this meet with a 2:08.91 in the 200 breaststroke. That is a more-than-two second improvement on her previous best time of 2:11.00 for the World Juniors teamer.
Liu scratched prelims of the 200 IM on Saturday, disrupting the lone scheduled head-to-head matchup between the two stars of the meet on the girls’ side so far.
Team Scores After Day 3:
TAC Titans – 702 MSA – 519 SwimMAC Carolina – 282.5 NCAC – 187 Kentucky Aquatics – 157.5Other Day 3 Winners and Highlights:
16-year-old Nola Meekins from the TAC Titans won the 500 free in 4:51.00. A versatile swimmer and Duke commit in the class of 2027, she was the North Carolina 8A (big school) state champion in this event in February with a time of 4:49.57. Taylor Klein from MSA, another Stanford commit, demolished her best time in the 200 fly. She swam 1:54.79 that undercut her 1:56.37 from Winter Juniors East. In total this season, she’s dropped three seconds from her previous best time that was swum in early 2024. Nikki Nixon from TAC registered her second 2nd-place finish in a butterfly event with a time of 1:55.35.Boys’ Recap – Day 3
After two swims with no best times on Friday, Mecklenburg Swim Association 17-year-old Mike Rice got over the hump on Saturday in the 50 free.
He won in 19.28, shaving .02 seconds off his previous best time from Winter Juniors East in December. That ties him as the best time by a 17-year-old this season nationally with Jordan Ragland from Life Time Northern California.
That time would rank Rice 2nd at Auburn, his future college team, this season.
Rice already had wins in the 200 free and 100 fly at the meet. He finished 3rd in his other Saturday individual event the 100 back on Saturday in 48.17, which is not a primary event for him but was another best time.
The winner of that race was Davis Jackson from the TAC Titans in 45.90. His previous best was a 46.39 from Winter Juniors East in December. Jackson is headed to Cal, one of the country’s top backstroking programs, but not until the fall of 2027. He is the #5 recruit in the class of 2027 and was the top 200 backstroker among high school juniors at the time of that ranking.
That wins adds to a previous victory in the 400 IM at this meet; his best event, the 200 back, is on Sunday.
Colt Chaires also picked up the second leg of a possible distance sweep by winning the 500 free in 4:23.24. That is a three second improvement over his last venture into the race, which won him a North Carolina High School 6A title in February. That pairs with a nearly-eight second drop in the 1000 free earlier in the meet to win that race, plus drops in the 200 free, 400 IM, and 100 back.
He is the #2 seed in the 1650 on Saturday behind Ewan Dalrymple of Columbia Swimming; the seed-gap is 14 seconds, which doesn’t feel insurmountable with how Chaires has been racing this week.
Team Scores After Day 3:
TAC Titans – 753 MSA – 377.5 NCAC – 254 Kentucky Aquatics – 250 SwimMAC Carolina – 183Other Day 3 Winners and Highlights:
18-year-old Maxim Skazobtsov from the TAC Titans won the 200 fly in 1:44.35. A Kazakhstan national who has represented his home country internationally, including at the 2024 World Short Course Swimming Championships, this is his first meet in the United States. Former University of Missouri swimmer Alex Ochsenbein won the boys’ 200 breaststroke in 1:56.19. He swam for the Tigers as a redshirt freshman in 2024-2025, but his last racing of record was a Last Chance Meet in March of 2025. He is now back home representing Kentucky Aquatics in Lexington. Henry Lee finished 2nd in 1:56.70 and 16-year-old Jack Martin was the top junior finisher in 1:58.36.Read the full story on SwimSwam: Reina Liu Snags 2 More Wins, Mike Rice Swims 19.28 in the 50 Free at Cary Sectionals (Day 3)
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