MORGANTOWN — The Morgantown girls’ swimming team topped the podium at Brooke High on Feb. 5 to claim the WVSSAC Region 1 title with 131.5 points.
The next closest team was Wheeling Park with 78 points.
Next up for the Mohigans will be the state championship meet today and Friday. They know this round won’t be as easy.
“We just want to compete,” MHS swim coach Eric Householder said. “It would be nice to win the state title. George Washington is a really tough team. They’ve won it the past two years. We’re hoping to be right there with them and, hopefully, bring the title back to Morgantown.”
Eight MHS girls have qualified for the state meet. The Morgantown boys fared well at regionals, too, placing in fourth. Five boys qualified for the state meet.
“Because we qualified a good number to the state meet, I’d say it was definitely a successful season,” Householder said.
This was Householder’s first season coaching the Mohigans’ swimming teams. He was no stranger to the pool, though. As the father of three competitive swimmers, he was certainly not wet behind the ears.
“It was a learning experience,” he said. “I’ve been around the swimming community for a while now. With my children being a part of it, I’ve been around for a long time. I’ve never actually coached until this season, so it’s been interesting. It’s been a fun year.”
His son, senior Preston Householder, qualified for the state meet in the 200 medley relay, 400 freestyle relay, 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle. His daughter, sophomore Delaney Householder, qualified for the state meet in the 200 medley relay, 400 freestyle relay, 200 individual medley, and 500 freestyle.
Another Householder child, eighth-grade Avery, is also a rising star in the pool.
“They’ve fallen in love with it,” Householder said of his children. “They really love the sport and have shown a great dedication to it.”
They started swimming at a young age in a summer league at Krepps Park. From there, they joined the Morgantown United Aquatic Club and Club Mountaineer.
“They progressed and really got better at it,” Householder said. “Ever since they’ve been in high school they wanted to devote their time and attention to performing at a high level for the high school team.”
As a team, both the girls and boys performed at a high level. En route to their dominant regional performance, the MHS girls broke a regional record in the first event of the day — the 200 medley relay — with a time of 1:53.70. Along with Delaney Householder, the other members of the relay are junior Caroline Riggs, senior Kate Blosser and senior Irina Stanescu. Those girls also make up the 400 freestyle relay team.
Riggs also qualified for the state meet in the 200 freestyle and 100 breaststroke. Blosser made it in the 100 butterfly and 500 freestyle. Stanescu will compete in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle.
The Mohigans’ 200 freestyle relay also qualified for the state meet. That is made up of junior Talia Miller, sophomore Lily Linscheid, sophomore Ruby Van Eden, and sophomore Jackie Papez. Linscheid will also compete in the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle, while Van Eden will compete in the 100 backstroke.
On the boys’ side, the 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay made up of Preston Householder, junior Carter Redelman, junior Luke Embry, and junior Caleb Seol qualified for the state meet. Redelman also competes in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, while Seol also competes in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle. Sophomore Shawn Li qualified for the state meet in the 100 breaststroke.
“They’re going to start taping soon and we’ll really focus on working on starts and turns and relay fundamentals,” Eric Householder said about the team’s preparation for the state meet.
The competition will be held at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park.
By MATTHEW PEASLEE
TWEET @dompostsports
