MORGANTOWN—A dozen schools gathered at Mylan Aquatic Center on Saturday for the first of two Mohawk Invitational swim meets, which have become annual in recent years.
Joining the Morgantown and University teams were schools from in and out of state. The Mohawk Invitational has become a highly anticipated meet in recent years, one that MHS coach Eric Householder says gives his team a great challenge early in the season.
“This meet has grown into something we love doing every year, and we get to do it twice at that,” he said. “This is where the state meet is held and we are fortunate to swim here multiple times throughout the season. Over the years, we’ve added more schools and even have some visiting from outside of our state. It’s awesome to be a part of.”
With so much ahead of them this season, Householder says the early stages are vital for seeing where everyone on the team stands and where they need to improve.
“We have some swimmers that we know have a good chance to compete this season,” he said. “For others, these early weeks are about posting good times and working as hard as possible to improve those. So far, I think our kids have some things they’ve done well and things we have to work on, but at this stage of the season, that’s how it should be.”
Morgantown has had some decorated teams in recent years with swimmers like Caroline Riggs, Delaney Housholder, and Daniel Hammer all graduating. But Householder sees just as much potential in his teams then the past.
“Everyone gets along so well and we don’t have any issues among the team whatsoever,” he said. “We had more of our kids who swim club in the offseason training more often over the summer so that helps as well.”
MHS will return to Mylan Aquatic Center on Wednesday, December 18, to host UHS, Buckhannon-Upshur, and South Harrison.
