Nandua girls swim takes 4th at States, boys 6th

By Luke Brankley

The Nandua Swim Team competed yesterday at the 2026 Class 2 State Swimming Championships held at SwimRVA, delivering an outstanding performance on the state’s biggest stage.

The Nandua girls finished 4th overall, while the boys placed 6th, making Nandua the only school in the state to have both the boys and girls teams finish in the top 10 — a tremendous accomplishment for the program.

The girls 200 Medley Relay team of Chloe Bacchi, Sarah Bentley, Molly Sams, and Sadie Reiter earned State Runner-Up honors with a 2nd place finish. The boys 200 Medley Relay team (Lucas Stodghill, Hayden Williams, Lucas Elliott, and Orion Loredo) placed 7th overall.

In the 200 Freestyle Relay, the boys team of Hayden Williams, Lucas Stodghill, Lucas Elliott, and Orion Loredo finished 6th, while the girls team of Chloe Bacchi, Sadie Reiter, Ashlyn Ebenezer, and Sarah Bentley placed 9th.

The girls 400 Freestyle Relay (Ashlyn Ebenezer, Maddy Askew, Campbell Bays, and Molly Sams) secured a 9th place finish, and the boys 400 Freestyle Relay team (Alex Bundick, Mason Payne, Alex Casteneda, and Lucas Stodghill) finished 11th.

Individual Performances

Several Warriors delivered strong individual performances:

• Sarah Bentley had an outstanding meet, finishing 2nd in the 100 Breaststroke and 3rd in the 200 Individual Medley.
• Molly Sams placed 5th in the 100 Butterfly and 9th in the 100 Backstroke.
• Chloe Bacchi earned 8th in the 100 Breaststroke and 10th in the 200 Individual Medley.
• Orion Loredo placed 7th in the 50 Freestyle and 12th in the 100 Freestyle.
• Maddy Askew finished 8th in the 500 Freestyle.
• Hayden Williams placed 9th in the 100 Breaststroke and 12th in the 200 Freestyle.
• Ashlyn Ebenezer finished 11th in the 200 Freestyle.
• Lucas Elliott earned 12th in the 100 Butterfly and 14th in the 200 Individual Medley.
• Alex Casteneda placed 13th in the 500 Freestyle.
• Sadie Reiter finished 16th in the 200 Individual Medley.