And the Athens Drive senior will have one last high school swim meet in which to do it.

After winning the 200-yard individual medley and 500 freestyle races at the NCHSAA 4-A East Regional meet Friday at Casey Natatorium, Smith has her sights set on winning both races again this weekend at the state championship meet in Chapel Hill.

“I wanted to be faster than I was last year, and I was, and it gives me a little more confidence for next week,” said Smith, who is a three-time reigning state champion in the 200 IM and 500 free.

Smith wants to break two minutes in the 200 IM. In each of the last two seasons, she has set the state meet record in that event. Last year, she won the title in 2:01.45.

On Friday, she won the regional title with a time of 2:02.16, 1.3 seconds faster than the preliminary time she swam earlier in the day.

Smith won the 500 free in 4:58.64, three seconds ahead of Enloe’s Gabi Shishkoff.

“I was happy with my 200 time for right now,” Smith said. “I’ve been training really hard. My 500 free, I could’ve done a little better.”

Enloe won the regional title for the 10th year in a row. The Eagles accumulated 353 points, and Leesville Road was the runner-up with 296. Apex (202), Green Hope (183.5) and Cary (176.5) finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

Smith will be among the dozens of swimmers with one last chance to do better this weekend’s state meet at UNC’s Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill. Prelims begin at 9 a.m. and the finals at 5 p.m.

Like Smith, Apex’s Mandy Myers and Cary ’s Torrey Bussey will be in the hunt for medals in Chapel Hill after collecting a few at regionals.

On Friday, Myers won the 50 free in 24.30 seconds, edging Broughton’s Sabrina Benson by .02 seconds. Myers was also second in the 200 free in 1:53.65.

Bussey earned three regional medals.

She won the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.59, took third in the 200 IM and helped the Imps win the 200 medley relay with Nicole Miller, Caroline Mills and Victoria Mitchell. The quartet won that race in 1:52.80.

“I didn’t expect our relay to win that coming into this meet,” said Bussey, who is the reigning state champion in the 100 breaststroke. “So I’m really excited about that. And I got a best time in my breaststroke, so that’s exciting. Coming off a win here’s good, so we’re off to a good start.”

Miller also earned an individual medal after she finished second in the 100 backstroke in 1:00.19.

Green Hope’s Katie Lehman was third in that event in 1:00.30. Green Hope diver Amanda MacCreery took second in her event with 369.20 points.

Holly Springs’ Julie Doran won the 1-meter diving competition for the second straight year. She accumulated 410.60 points.

Mahoney money for Falcons After strong swims in the morning preliminaries, Green Hope junior Ryan Mahoney felt like a “special night” awaited him in the evening finals Friday.

His hunch was right.

Mahoney won the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle races at the NCHSAA 4-A East Regional championships.

“He was very focused this morning, and he and I talked a little bit before the finals tonight,” said Green Hope coach Jim Swartz. “I told him something about his turns that I had noticed and it seemed to work.”

Mahoney will chase his first state title at the state championship meet Saturday at UNC’s Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill. In his first appearance there last year, Mahoney garnered a pair of eighth-place finishes in the 100 free and 200 free.

“I realized that tonight could be a special night, and I just focused,” said Mahoney, who won the 50 free in 22.14 seconds and the 100 free in 47.22 seconds. “It definitely gets me in the right mind-set, knowing I’m capable of doing great things next weekend.”

Enloe won the title for the 10th straight year. The Eagles wracked up 397 points, and Apex finished second with 207. Athens Drive was fourth with 165 points, and Green Hope was fifth with 161.

Like they did the week before at the conference championships, the Cougars earned their trophy without winning a race. In fact, no one finished second in any race, either. Kevin Hughes was the only Apex swimmer to step onto the medal stand. He finished third in the 100 breaststroke.

Just as the case was at the Tri-Eight meet, the Cougars’ finish Friday was a testament to their depth.

“It’s been a great experience these four years, and this is just the icing on the cake with all these seniors,” said Apex senior Josh Crissman.

Apex got a boost from its diving team, too. The Cougars placed four divers in the top eight, which netted them 40 points, the highest-point total in any of the meet’s 12 events. Jamie Haigh was fourth (244.25 points), their highest finisher.

Green Hope’s Bryant Wooten won the diving competition with 374.80 points. Green Hope freshman Dominick Glavich joined Mahoney and Wooten among the Falcons’ medalists. Glavich won the 100 breaststroke in 59.51 seconds and was second in the 100 butterfly with a time of 51.70 seconds. Both times were personal bests, Glavich said, signaling the prospect of a stellar state meet.

“I have an eye on the 100 breast,” he said. “The 100 fly, I’ve got to work on my turns and we’ll see.”

Athens Drive ’s Andy Lamb took home a trio of medals. He edged Glavich in the 100 fly in 51.55 seconds and he was second in the backstroke (52.42 seconds). Lamb, along with Dylan Kab, Jeff Paske and Philip Arve won the 400 free relay in 3:17.32.

Cary’s Brendan Hipps, Deniz Gurel, Mitch Trotter and Beau Dove teamed to win the 200 free relay in 1:30.23. Dove also had a runner-up finish in the 50 free (22.37 seconds).

Now that they’ve measured themselves against the rest of the region, they’ll see how they fare next weekend against the rest of the state.

“This is a small pond,” Athens’ Lamb said. “We’re heading out to the big lake next week. It’s going to be a completely different atmosphere, but it’ll be a really exciting challenge.”