BHS Girls Win Region III Swim Title, Boys Finish Second; Indians Qualify Several for State Meet
By Chris Johnson on February 05, 2023
The Bridgeport High School girls swim team captured the Region III championship on Saturday at The Bridge Sports Complex, while the boys finished as the runner-up.
The Indians also qualified for the state meet in at least 11 of the combined 22 events as the Top 3 from individual events and the Top 2 from relays from each of the state’s four regions automatically qualify for states.
BHS will likely have more qualify for states as the next 12 fastest times from individual events and the next 10 fastest relays regardless of region also qualify. Those additional qualifiers will be finalized by the WVSSAC once all the regional results are collected and compared.
The BHS girls finished with 103.5 points to win the regional team title. Elkins was the runner-up with 91 and followed by Buckhannon-Upshur (67), Charleston Catholic (66), Philip Barbour (57), Herbert Hoover (47), Liberty (31), Capital (24), Grafton (15), PikeView (8.5), Woodrow Wilson (4) and Shady Spring (4).
The BHS boys had 95 points and finished second behind Robert C. Byrd with 106. Following the Indians were Buckhannon-Upshur (72), Elkins (64), Charleston Catholic (47), Philip Barbour (45), Grafton (38), PikeView (19), Woodrow Wilson (9) and Capital (6).
Amelia Romano and Kira Gazal each won an individual regional title for the BHS girls. Romano took first place in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:00.57 and Gazal won the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:06.13. They were also joined by Gretchen Lang and Jenna Wood in winning the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 4:01.91.
Romano also qualified in the 200 freestyle with a second-place time of 2:00.98, finishing behind Charleston Catholic’s Lily Patnoe who broke a 23-year record with a time of 1:58.88.
Gazal finished third in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:06.30 to earn a spot at states.
Lang earned a spot at the state meet in the 500 freestyle with a third-place time of 5:56.69.
The BHS boys’ 200 medley relay team of Jacob Keener, Cole Parsons, Anderson Mitchell and James Hadjis qualified with a second-place time of 1:47.61.
Parsons earned a spot at the state mee in the 200 IM with a runner-up time of 2:13.77.
Hadjis placed third in the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.99.
Mitchell had a third-place finish in the 100 butterfly at 59.27.
Keener was the runner-up in the 500 freestyle at 5:17.74 as well as the 100 backstroke with a time of 59.66.
Parsons, Keener and Hadjis were joined by Ryan Hall on the 400 freestyle relay team that earned a spot at states with a runner-up time of 3:43.47.
Buckhannon-Upshur standout Cadence Vincent broke her own regional records in the 50 free and 100 free with times of 23.23 and 50.50, respectively. Vincent, who will swim at Alabama next year, is already the state meet record holder in both events as well.
Patnoe added a second win by taking the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:09.55.
Other regional winners for the girls were: Elkins’ team of Braelynn Sparks, Emma Ujvagi, Joslyn DeWeese and Rachel Shryock in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:59.81; Herbert Hoover’s Ashton Walker in the 200 IM with a time of 2:16.77; Elkins’ Shryock in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:30.41 and the B-U team of Alayna Whitehair, Lillian Fetty, Rylee Yardley and Vincent in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:47.72.
Robert C. Byrd’s Jacob Howe won the regional title in the 100 free with a time of 48.17 and was part of two first-place relays. Howe, Armondo Montero, Adam Fubio and Kaden Meighen won the 200 free relay with a record-setting time of 1:33.61 breaking Buckhannon-Upshur’s mark of 1:34.11 set in 2008.
The same four Eagles joined forces to win the 400 free relay with a time of 3:31.34.
Buckhannon-Upshur’s Preston Bennett won both of his individual events, taking the 200 freestyle with a record-setting time of 1:48.62 (breaking his time of 1:49.50 set last year) and the 500 free with a time of 5:01.74.
Bennett was also part of the first-place 200 medley relay team as he along with Reis Leonard, Carter Zuliani and Owen Caynor finished with a time of 1:46.41.
Elkins’ Isaac Anger also won a pair of regional titles and set a new record. The record came in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 59.84, eclipsing the mark he set last year at 1:00.47. Anger also won the 50 free with a time of 21.64.
Other regional winners for the boys were: Charleston Catholic’s Matthew Smith in the 200 IM with a time of 2:07.57; Philip Barbour’s Jayden Starks in the 100 butterfly with a time of 58.63 and Grafton’s Will Angus in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.87.
Stay tuned to Connect-Bridgeport for an update when the at-large bids for the state meet are finalized.
The state swim meet will take place Feb. 16-17 at the Mylan Park Aquatic Center in Morgantown.
Editor’s Note: Top photo of Gazal, middle photo of Romano and bottom photo of Parsons by Joe LaRocca.
