WELLSBURG — Morgantown High qualified for nine races in the state swimming meet Feb. 3, while University qualified for five, at the Region I swimming championships, at Brooke High.
The top three individual finishers and top two relay finishers in each race qualify for the state tournament, set for Feb. 15-16, at the WVU Natatorium.
Others can still qualify, depending on results from the other three regions. The next 12 individual swimmers with the fastest times from all four regions combined will go to states while the top 10 fastest relay teams will go.
For MHS, McKenna Moore (2:01.71) finished first in the 200-yard freestyle. She also finished third in the 100-butterfly (1:04.19).
Abigail Riggs won the 200 IM (2:18.29) and 500 freestyle (5:24.20).
Riley Pierce won the 50 freestyle (24.70) and 100 freestyle (54:22).
The Mohigans’ 200 freestyle relay team of Moore, Abby Voorhees, Riggs and Pierce finished first (1:45.28). The same group also won the 400 freestyle relay (3:49.59).
As a team, the MHS girls finished third, with 96 points.
For the UHS girls, Jacqueline McCutchan won the 100 backstroke (1:01.43). Mia Rice finished third in the 200 freestyle (2:07.69) and 100 breaststroke (1:17.72).
The Hawks’ girls finished fourth overall, with 54 points.
On the boys’ side, UHS’s Nathan Mizener finished second in the 50 freestyle (24.72). Griffin Nordstrom finished third in the 500 freestyle (5:23.74). The Hawks’ boys finished sixth, with 25 points.
MHS’s Carson Gresak finished third in the 50 freestyle (24.79). The Mohigans’ boys finished ninth, with 19 points.
BECKLEY — Sophomore Kaden Metheny helped the Hawks claim the Big Atlantic championship with a 34-point performance. Teammate Ethan Ridgeway wasn’t far behind, with 27 points.
“All the kids played well and it’s the best we played all year,” head coach Joe Schmidle said. “Ethan Ridgeway played a heck of a game, too, and so did Austin Forbes. We shot 11 of 19 from 3, that should tell you something right there. We just played great and I’m really proud of the kids tonight.”
Metheny went 8 of 12 from behind the arc and also had six rebounds. Forbes was another double-digit scorer, with 17 points.
Ridgeway earned the Heart and Hustle Award for the Hawks, given to one senior from each team that competed in the tournament.
The Hawks (14-1) will travel to South Charleston for a 7:15 p.m. tip Feb. 7.
WHEELING — The Knights’ comeback bid fell short against Wheeling Park in an overtime loss.
After a slow start in the first half, PHS pulled within seven points at halftime.
“We played a very good second half, but we just had a shaky start,” head coach Paul Koontz said. “I will say this, it was the best effort a Preston High team had since I’ve been here. Some days we haven’t, but I couldn’t ask for anything else today.”
Andrew Lantz led the Knights (3-14) with 22 points, while Montgomery Rebelo (16), Jake Livengood (11) and Corey Pyles (10) also scored in double-figures.
PHS will host North Marion at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7.
BECKLEY — The Mohigans claimed the Big Atlantic championship, holding off a late charge by the Spartans by making clutch free throws down the stretch.
“It’s the best job our kids have done of handling adversity all year,” MHS head coach Jason White said. “Our kids did a good job of being consistent throughout. I’m really proud of their effort. Stepped to the line and made foul shots against a really good Greenbrier East team that had one loss coming in. This team is young but is starting to come together and tonight was the first sign of us starting to do that.”
White said a few members of the team have been battling sicknesses, so he hopes that once everyone is back healthy, they take the next step.
Sydni Clawges led the Mohigans, with 20 points, while Kaitlyn Ammons added 12.
MHS will host Magnolia at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 5.
CHARLESTON — Abbey Ammons became Clay-Battelle’s all-time leading scorer with a
13-point performance in the WVHIT. Ammons now has 1,316 points in her career.
The Cee-Bees also used 12 points from Rylee Burnette to get past Harman.
C-B will return home Feb. 5 for the opening game in the OVAC tournament, against Frontier (Ohio).
SPRING MILLS — Knocking down seven
3-pointers as a team, the Hawks got a road win in the Eastern Panhandle.
Junior point guard Zoe Murphy led all scorers, with 22 points for UHS
(7-11). Layne Assif tacked on 12 points and Mallory Napolillo had 10.
UHS will travel to John Marshall at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5.
