Darden's silver mine: WSE senior claims pair of runner-up finishes in 1A state swim meet

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on February 14, 2015 11:23 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

CARY -- Zach Darden used every ounce of energy as he churned through the clear-blue Triangle Aquatic Center water Friday afternoon.

He reached the medals podium twice. But not in the fashion that he had hoped. The Wayne School of Engineering senior emerged as the state runner-up in the 50-yard free and 100-yard butterfly during the N.C. High School Athletic Association Classes 1-A/2-A swimming championships.

"I was pretty happy with both of the swims and have kind of made peace with the outcome," said Darden, who has signed to swim at East Carolina University next season.

"One of the things I can say about this year is that I left it all in the pool and have no regrets."

Seeded No. 1 in the 50 free final, Darden touched the wall one-hundredth of a second behind Raleigh Charter's Zach Lewis. The two shared the eastern regional gold medal just one week ago in the same pool.

Darden fell to Carrboro's Thomas Bilden by .67 seconds in the 100 fly. That event, too, was a rematch of last week's eastern regional won by Bilden.

Darden finished his prep career with four medals -- three silvers, one bronze -- in three state championship appearances. He took third in the 100 free last season, and was state runner-up in the 200 individual medley as a sophomore.

Rosewood's Kodey Silknitter logged a pair of top-15 finishes -- ninth in the 100 backstroke (59.06 seconds) and 14th in the 200 free (1.54.87). Dalton Ira took 24th in the 500 free (5:14.71).

"Kodey really stepped up in prelims to get spots in the finals and I'm thinking he will be in contention for a medal next year," RHS head coach Natalie Ira said.

Silknitter, Ira, Wes Chandler and Zach Sumner wound up 23rd in the 200 medley relay with a time of 2:01.99.

"Our boys were amazing," gushed coachIra. "We made best times in all of our events. We swam against some of the best swimmers in the state. I am already excited for next season and look forward to continuing the growth our team has experienced this season."