In his eight seasons as the Apex swimming coach, Greg Huff’s boys’ team has never won a conference title. While the girls have won twice during his tenure, a third one for them would be made sweeter if it was matched by the boys later this week.

“It would be wonderful,” Huff said. “The seniors I have from both sides have worked so hard to get to a point where this is possible.”

Come Tuesday, the Cougars will try to turn that possibility into reality at the Tri-Eight swimming championships at Triangle Aquatic Center, where Apex will be the prohibitive favorite on both sides.

The Apex girls and boys have both gone 16-2 this season, with their only losses coming against state power Enloe twice.

Girls

After their season-opening meet Nov. 15, Cary coach Kyrin Hellinger left N.C. State’s Casey Natatorium thinking the Imps had nipped Apex by six points.

It wasn’t until later that evening, when she called in the score to The News & Observer, that she realized a scoring error.

“That’s when my heart kind of sank,” she said.

Once corrected, the results had Apex the winner by six.

“I was a little surprised we had lost,” Huff said. “Then I had a chance to stare at the scores, and I figured it out. It was kind of fun, because she was expecting I would harass her. I let it go, and then played with her [and] we had a lot of fun with it.”

Apex handily defeated a shorthanded Cary later in the year, but both teams should be at full strength for the conference championships.

Apex will be led by senior Mandy Myers, who has won five conference championships the last three years and was a two-time state champion a year ago. Huff has not finalized his lineup yet, but Myers typically swims the 100- and 200-yard freestyles.

Cary can counter with their state champion, sophomore Torrey Bussey. Bussey is the reigning 100 breaststroke state champ, and Hellinger said she is swimming her signature event faster than the time she swam to win the title a year ago. Hellinger also said to watch for junior Nicole Miller (50 free, 100 backstroke) and freshman Victoria Mitchell (200 free, 500 free).

Huff is counting on his depth to carry the day. Senior Kristin Celii has been all-conference three years in the 100 breaststroke, an event she’s gone back and forth with against teammate Alicia Hunter. Brittany Crisp excels in the 100 free and 100 backstroke, and Alyssa Stewart has met regional qualifying times in every event except the 100 breaststroke.

“It’s been a great combo,” Huff said. “To put them together in relays is fun because they have such flexibility between them. They will be the reason, if we win, why we win.”

Among the others likely to make noise, Athens’ senior Kirsten Smith (a three-time state champ in 2007), Middle Creek’s freshmen duo of Mallory Horvath (freestyle sprints) and Caroline Carlisle (200 individual medley, 100 butterfly) and Green Hope’s Whitney Sweesy (50 free).

Boys

Cary won the last four boys Tri-Eight championships, but the core of those teams departed in the class of 2007. Now Apex is hoping to swoop in and claim the title with a team reliant on its senior class.

“We’ve got a huge number of seniors that have been working at this for four years,” Huff said. “All year long, the boys have been looking forward to this meet. They have thought of nothing else, some of them, to be in this position.”

Among the seniors the Cougars will count on is Brett Scott, who excels in the 100 and 200 free.

“It’s a good race because everyone knows who he is and wants to beat him,” Huff said. Huff also expects Kevin Hughes (100 breaststroke, 200 IM) and Mike Smiechowski (200 free, 500 free) to score big for Apex.

“I anticipate it’s going to be close,” Huff said.

Among the others to watch on the boys’ side, Athens’ Philip Arve (100 butterfly, 500 free) and Andy Lamb (100 backstroke) and Green Hope’s Ryan Mahoney (200 free).

Et cetera

Times are expected to be fast.

Hellinger said her team swam considerably faster in its meets at TAC versus other pools like N.C. State’s Casey Natatorium.

One reason is that the pool at TAC is 12 feet deep across all eight lanes, while Casey’s pool slopes and is as shallow as 4 feet.

“What makes it beneficial is there’s not as much bounce off the bottom of the pool,” Huff said. “The water’s deep enough to where the amount of turbulence is almost zero. The entire pool is 12 feet deep, and it’s even [across all eight lanes].”