Sanderson High graduates and former champions Chris Stevenson, Boyd Wilson, Mike Bitzenhofer and Todd Dudley won the U.S. Masters Swimming National Championship in the 200-yard medley relay in the 45 to 49 age group in Greensboro last weekend.

The four swimmers had led Sanderson to the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A championship in 1982 and each had earned high school All-America honors.

“We had stayed in touch, and we saw the masters championships were going to be right up the road in Greensboro,” Wilson said. “We thought it would be fun. We were glad that nobody hurt his shoulder or was hurt or sick and that we could swim together again.

“Winning was just icing on the cake.”

Stevenson (23.96 in the backstroke), Wilson (30.55 in the breaststroke), Bitzenhofer (25.81 in the butterfly) and Dudley (22.16 in the freestyle) finished in 1:42.48, which was about 3 seconds slower than when they were teenagers.

“Chris is a world record holder in the masters 200 back, and Todd was on the U.S. national team and won a gold medal in the Pan Am Games in 1987,” Wilson said. “We had two studs.”

All four swam in college. Dudley was a standout at N.C. State. Stevenson was the most valuable swimmer in the Atlantic Coast Conference championships while at the University of North Carolina, and Wilson was an All-ACC selection at Clemson. Bitzenhofer swam at UNC-Wilmington.

“I was really surprised we went that fast,” said Dudley, who had trained about once or twice a week during the last four months. “The thing that surprised me most was how competitive we were once we got there. It just all came back.”

Stevenson, who swam for Greece in the 1984 Olympics, is a professor of analytical and environmental chemistry at the University of Richmond. Wilson is a substance abuse counselor in Raleigh. Bitzenhofer is a nurse in the children’s emergency room at Wake Medical Center in Raleigh, and Dudley is in sales at Stryker, a medical technology company in Raleigh.

“I didn’t realize that this was the 30th anniversary until last weekend,” Stevenson said. “This was the race that I was most excited about. I wouldn’t have been so pumped if I didn’t think we could win, but I knew it was a long shot.”

Smithfield-Selma AD change: Smithfield-Selma High athletic director Mike Joyner will step down from that post at the end of the school year but will continue as the Spartans’ baseball coach and a social studies teacher.

“Due to recent circumstances with my family and several other factors, I have come to the conclusion that this is the best route for my future,” Joyner said. “I have enjoyed my time as athletic director at our school but feel it is best for me to go in a different direction.”

Joyner cited the long hours involved with the job as another reason for his decision.

“My son (Zach) is now 10 years old, so I also need to step away and be with him and my wife (Cindy) more,” Joyner said. “My son is involved in three sports, and I simply cannot be in two places at once when we have something here and he is playing somewhere else.

“I am not sure that this is a job someone can do for 25-30 years anymore with all you have to deal with.”

Smithfield-Selma will move from the Greater Neuse 4A Conference to a 3A league in the next N.C. High School Athletic Association alignment that begins in the fall of 2013.

Bengal picks Louisburg: Fuquay-Varina boys soccer standout Adrian Gonzales has committed to Louisburg College. Gonzales scored 56 goals in 2011 to place No. 10 on the all-time single-season scoring list.

Staff writers D. Clay Best and J. Mike Blake contributed to this story.

Staff writers D. Clay Best and J. Mike Blake contributed to this story.

STEVENS: 919-829-8910