MORGANTOWN – Teams from all over the state of West Virginia gathered on Thursday for the first of two days at the WVSSAC state swim meet inside Mylan Aquatic Center.
Swimmers from both Morgantown and University competed in the preliminary round in the morning session needing to finish with one of the top six fastest times in order to make it into the championship final race later in the evening session of the day.
For the Hawks, their best chance for a championship qualifier came in the 50-yard freestyle race with senior Maddie McCoy but a false start resulted in a disqualification in a race where they would have had a shot at a top-six result.
McCoy did come back strong in the 100 freestyle though, placing in the top 12 and going on to win the consolation race with a personal best of 58.00.
“Maddie came back super strong for the 100 free,” UHS head coach Nicolle Davis said. “I’m so proud of the team (Thursday). They all did wonderful and finished strong. We are very excited to come back (Friday) and are ready to leave it all in the water once again.”
McCoy was the only UHS swimmer involved on Thursday evening for the finals.
MHS swam in five championship finals on the night with the boys in the 200 medley relay and individual race, and the 100-yard butterfly with freshman Christian Hammer swimming the two solo finals.
On the girls’ side, Yale commit and defending state champion, Caroline Riggs, along with teammate Lillian Linscheid, competed in the 200-yard freestyle race. While junior Delaney Householder took to the pool in the 200-yard medley.
Riggs and Winfield’s Maddie Foster were separated by just .37 seconds in the preliminaries coming into the final in the evening. Through the first 100 yards, Riggs had built a slight advantage over Foster and seemed to be in prime position to defend her title.
However, Foster used some impressive turns to close the gap between herself and Riggs over the next 50 yards, setting herself up to overtake the leader and eventually winning the race by a slim margin.
“Caroline and Maddie are great competitors and they both put on a great show,” MHS head coach Eric Householder said of the race. “Caroline is a great swimmer and competitor, but she is an even better person and teammate. She has nothing to be ashamed of and I know she will come back (Friday) ready to go.”
Riggs finished 2nd in the state in the 200-yard freestyle race with a time of 1.51.12. Lillian Linscheid took home 6th in the state with a time of 2.00.03.
Delaney Householder stepped up to the block next in the 200-yard medley final and finished second in the state with a time of 2.09.12.
The boys’ side finished 3rd overall in the 200-yard medley relay with the team of Christian Hammer, Daniel Hammer, Carter Redelman, and Lake Embrey, the only team event for the evening for them. Individually, senior Lake Embrey won the consolation final in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1.51.96. Then freshman Christian Hammer earned two important results in his two races, finishing 4th in the 200-yard medley at 2.03.43, and 2nd in the 100-yard butterfly in 52.89.
The MHS boys team sits in first place after day one with 70 points, 5.5 points ahead of second-place Parkersburg South, the defending state champions.
“Very proud of the job our boys did on day one to be leading,” Householder said. “The girls are doing great too, we are a little behind but have two strong relays and a lot of chances to bring in points tomorrow.”
“The message is just to keep swimming fast, have fun, and enjoy the moment,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how the adjustment is at day two. They are an amazing group and I know they will be great.”
Preliminaries will start this morning at 9:30 a.m. with finals beginning at 4:45 p.m. this evening.
Event Winners
Girls
200 Medley Relay – George Washington
200 Freestyle – Maddie Foster, Winfield
200 IM – Madi McGlothen, George Washington
50 Freestyle – Cadence Vincent, Buckhannon-Upshur
100 Butterfly – Maddie Foster, Winfield
100 Freestyle – Cadence Vincent, Buckhannon-Upshur
Boys
200 Medley Relay – Parkersburg South
200 Freestyle – Preston Bennett, Buckhannon-Upshur
200 IM – Bradley Boyd, Hurricane
50 Freestyle – Isaac Anger, Elkins
100 Butterfly – Nick Lugo, Jefferson
100 Freestyle – Abram Bias, Winfield
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