Thursday's tri-meet between Orange, Chapel Hill and Cardinal Gibbons, the last before the schools' conference meet, was no exception.

"The kids that are third or fourth or sixth are just as important to a team in high school as the kid who gets first or second," said Mark Alford, head coach of Orange High's swim team. "You need all those points to win these meets. You can sweep the first places and lose the match easy if you don't have that depth."

Chapel Hill's girls nearly did sweep the first places, taking first in every event except the 50-meter Freestyle. The Tigers had two double-event winners in Caroline Liu (200-yard IM and 100 Backstroke) and Lydia Renn (200-yard Freestyle and 500 Freestyle).

Thankfully for Chapel Hill, many of those first-place finishers were followed closely in second and third by their Tiger compatriots. The girls easily won the meet, scoring 262 points to Orange's 81 and Gibbons' 115.

On the boys' front, Cardinal Gibbons took advantage of their superior numbers and outscored Chapel Hill 240-175, avenging their loss to the Tigers earlier in the season. Orange's boys managed 29 points.

Joey Duronio, who was one of 16 Chapel Hill swimmers honored during Thursday's "senior night" for CHHS, took home two wins -- the 200 Freestyle and 100 Backstroke.

As the postseason approaches, coaches begin to focus on the depth that will allow their teams to score points at conference, regional and state meets. Smaller teams like Alford's have a difficult time making an impact in larger meets especially when, as in the Panthers' case, the team is replete with young or beginning swimmers. Swimming doesn't only reward huge rosters, though.

"We're all as fast or faster than (Gibbons') swimmers," Chapel Hill senior Rachel Pudik said, gesturing to her fellow swimmers. "Cardinal Gibbons has strength in numbers more than quality."

Brianne Godwin, Chapel Hill's first-year coach, agreed and said she was impressed with the breadth of her girls' success. On Thursday, the Tigers took at least two out of the top three spots in every event except the 100-meter Breaststroke.

"Our girls beat (Gibbons) this meet, and our boys, just because we don't have as much depth, didn't," said Brianne Godwin. "For the girls team, it's going to be a lot more about divvying up the points and not trying to focus on getting one girl to be state champion."

Godwin, who served as an assistant coach at Chapel Hill for nine seasons before being named head coach last year, said she thinks that her girls have a definite shot at the state title. But the boys feel that they can make a strong showing at states as well. With an early-season victory over Gibbons under their belts, it's hard to doubt them.

"Joey (Duronio) and I have a history of winning championships at Exchange, the summer league," said Chapel Hill swimmer Steve Shannon. "We want to bring that history to Chapel Hill and hopefully we can win states with these guys too."

"We beat Cardinal Gibbons once, and we can beat them again."