Park, Brooke have strong days at Region 1 meet
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WELLSBURG -- Area swimmers captured four individual titles and one relay crown during Saturday's West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission Region 1 Swim Championships at Brooke High School.
Winning individual honors were Wheeling Park senior Abby Heilman in the 100 breast (1:13.33); Wheeling Park junior Levi Parker in the 200 freestyle (1:50.15); Wheeling Central senior JulieAnne Humpe in the 100 backstroke (1:02.96); and John Marshall junior sprinter Maitlyn Miller in the 100 freestyle (57.28). Brooke High School's 200 freestyle relay team of Ella Dietrich, Ella McCullough, Lyla Horvath and Faith Farrell also captured top honors in a time of 1:46.19.
Heilman, Parker and Miller also picked up runner-up honors in the 200 Individual Medley, the 100 backstroke and the 50 freestyle, respectively. Humpe finished third in the 200 IM.
For those finishes, Heilman, Parker, Miller and Humpe received All-Region recognition for points scored on Saturday.
Overall, Parkersburg South had a strong showing on both the boys and the girls side of the pool. As a team, South broke four Region 1 meet records -- two by Jordan Claypoole (50 free in 24.2 and the 100 butterfly in 56.58), one by Quade Harris in the 100 back (53.57), and the boys 200 medley relay team set a new mark at 1:41.55.
Parkersburg South captured the boys' overall title over Wheeling Park, while Morgantown High edged out Brooke by three points for the girls' crown.
Brooke head coach Kelsie Blumette said her girls gave it their all on Saturday.
"I'm extremely proud. Our girls worked so hard, and the results came through today. We have a number of girls that received automatic bids to state, and others that will get at-large bids. I couldn't have asked more from them; a lot of personal bests, a lot of great swims. Just a great day for Brooke," she said.
Wheeling Central head coach Jeanie Humpe also said her team gave its all. "Our swimmers are talented and they've really put in the work this year. I'm proud of all of them. The competition each year keeps getting better and better, and to see our swimmers continue to excel lets me know we're on the right path."
Her daughter also had a remarkable day in the pool after a season of adversity. "She's back in form," Humpe said. "Every time she swims, she's amazing. She's ready for states."
GIRLS
Outside of strong swims from Heilman, Miller and Humpe, Wheeling Park sophomore Molly George had two solid swims. She qualified for states by finishing second in both the 100 fly (1:06.71) and the 100 back (1:04.17).
Brooke's Lyla Horvath put forth a stellar performance in the 200 freestyle where she finished second at 2:09.84, a drop of more than 4 seconds from her seed time. Wheeling Central freshman Ellie Manning placed fourth at 2:13.2.
In the 50 free, Brooke's Farrell finished third to earn an automatic bid to states, touching just behind Miller at 26.06. Brooke's McCullough finished third in the 100 freestyle at 57.68, just ahead of Farrell (57.96). Horvath placed fourth in the 500 free at 5:48.3.
Brooke's Kiersten Harvath finished third in the 100 back, while McCullough finished just behind Heilman in the 100 breast (1:14.79). Brooke 4X100 free relay squad finished second behind Morgantown.
BOYS
Wheeling Park had a strong showing Saturday to finish second to Parkersburg South. Outside of Parker's first and second-place finishes, the team saw a number of strong swims.
Park's boys started strong with an opening second-place finish in the 200 medley relay. The team of Parker, Jackson Kiziminski, Max Hill and Nate LaMagna finished in 1:46.99.
Parker ran away from the competition in the 200 freestyle, posting a 1:50.15, .7 seconds faster than his seed time and more than 7 seconds faster than his nearest competitor. Wheeling Central's Alex Mihalovich earned an automatic bid to states by finishing third in the 200 freestyle at 1:59.3.
In the 200 IM, Kiziminski finished a strong third and earned an automatic bid to states at 2:14.48, followed by John Marshall's Wyatt Jefferson in fourth at 2:19.08 and Brooke's Henry Anderson placing fifth at 2:22.76.
In the 50 freestyle, Park's Malachi Smith earned his bid to states with a 23.61, good for second. His teammate, Nathan LaMaga, finished third in the event at 23.69 and earns an automatic bid to Morgantown. Brooke's Dameon Rea finished a strong fourth at 23.9. Smith also finished fourth in the 100 freestyle at 53.33.
Kiziminski earned his second individual event bid to states in the 100 breast with a time of 1:06.33. John Marshall's Wyatt Jefferson finished second in the event at 1:04.79.
Wheeling Park head coach Michael Cook said his squad is now looking for strong swims at states, set for Feb. 15-16 in Morgantown. "We swam really well. Some things didn't pan out exactly as we expected them to, and we had a late injury, but overall we had a really good day with a couple exceptional individual swims," he said.