CARY–It was one last trip to Cary and the final pages of the greatest chapter in Orange women’s swimming history.
Together, Piper White and Ainsley Rasinske won three relay state championships. In 2023, when they were freshman, White and Rasinske teamed with Katie Belle Sikes (now swimming at the University of Georgia) and Riley White to win the 200 yard freestyle relay at the 3A State Championships, holding off a team from Northwest Cabarrus. It was the first swimming relay state championship, men’s or women’s, in school history.
A year later, Piper White and Rasinske won two more relay state championships. The first, the 200 yard medley, ended in storybook fashion when Piper White touched the wall ahead of Central Cabarrus’ Audrey Wolff by eight-hundredths-of-a-second to end the anchor leg. Later that night, Sikes swam a memorable final anchor leg, her swan song as a Lady Panther, to repeat as 200 free champions…