Bridgeport High School athletes swam to win Friday night.
Both boys and girls dominated at the Harrison County swim championships held at Salem University; the girls more than doubling points of their nearest competitor Notre Dame and the boys also scoring twice the points of nearest competitor Robert C. Byrd.
In the girls’ field, it was BHS 155, Notre Dame 48, RCB 41 and Lincoln High School 24. For the boys, the Indians accumulated 126 points, followed by RCB 63 and Notre Dame 44. Lincoln and Liberty also participated.
“I was just real pleased with our times. They are getting to where they need to be at this point,” said Coach Jan Grisso. “And hopefully those times will keep getting better and better.”
Earning high point for the county meet were Sarah Stallman, Darian Spencer and Catie Wilson for the girls and Marcel Rodriquez and John Carter for the boys.
“The girls tied and the boys tied for top scores,” Grisso said. “Each of them earned first place in their individual events.”
Both teams came out of the gates in victory mode, claiming the girls and boys 200-yard medley relay championships. Swimming for the girls was Darian Spencer, Jenna Soltesz, Kaitlyn Pinti and Sarah Stallman, finishing in 2:07.87, more than a six-second lead on Notre Dame.
Bridgeport also scored a fourth-place finish in the 200-medley relay; Jaryn Dodrill, Vaughn Vincent, Allison Hess and Rachel Reppert finishing in 2:26.88. On the boys’ side, it was Phillip Malenich, John Carter, Luke Pinti and Kyle Malcolm, finishing the relay in 1:52.13. The BHS team of Nick Allen, Viktor Rodriquez, Andrew Liu and Jacob Wentz captured third place with a time of 2:07.41.
In the girls’ 200-yard freestyle, Stallman dominated with a time of 2:11.33, followed by the Lady Indians’ Cheri Signorelli (2:21.51). The Tribe’s Maggie Lane finished fourth with a time of 2:45.03. In the same race for the boys, Marcel Rodriquez finished first and Malenich third with times of 2:05.93 and 2:14.59, respectively.
In the girls’ 200-yard individual medley, Spencer claimed first and Soltesz third, finishing in 2:29.20 and 2:40.03. For the boys, Carter claimed the top spot (2:17.85) and Pinti the fourth (2:28.28).
The girls’ 50-yard freestyle was captured by Catie Wilson, followed by the Tribe’s Maria Lacaria and Pinti. The top three times were 27:45, 27.90 and 29.76. In the boys’ race, RCB’s Nathan Fubio finished first, but Malcolm claimed a close second, finishing in 24.61, just over a second behind Fubio.
In the 100-yard butterfly, Soltesz took first place for the girls, followed by Vincent. The girls finished in 1:11.83 and 1:16.21, respectively. For the boys, Carter took the lead, finishing in just 59.21. Viktor Rodriquez finished third with 1:02.22.
Wilson captured first place for the girls with a time of 1:01.17, with the Tribe’s Lacaria and Dodrill, finishing second and fifth. With a time of 53.94, Marcel Rodriquez took the win in the boys’ 100-yard freestyle, followed by RCB’s Fubio and the Indians’ Malcolm. Liu finished fifth.
Stallman finished the 500-yard freestyle race in an impressive 5:53.42 with Notre Dame’s Isabella Gibson in second place with 5:57.47. Signorelli captured a third place for BHS. Allen was the sole boys’ competitor in the same race, taking the victory with 6:51.06.
Both girls’ and boys’ teams took the lead in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The Tribe’s Spencer, Wilson, Lacaria and Stallman finished in 1:49.05. The boys’ Malcolm, Malenich, Marcel Rodriquez and Carter finished in 1:38.56. RCB was right behind them with 1:39.95.
BHS took a first place in the girls’ 100-yard backstroke; Spencer taking the honors with 1:11.13. Hope Rieser finished second for BHS, capturing a time of 1:15.94. Malenich won the same race for the boys, finishing in 1:05.52.
In an extremely close 100-yard breaststroke, the win went to RCB’s Alexis Brannon with the Tribe’s Kirsten George and Kaitlyn Pinti finishing second and third, respectively (1:22.14 and 1:22.67). Pinti captured the win for the boys in 1:09.18. The Tribe’s Ryan Knapp finished third and Wentz finished fourth (1:16.27 and 1:22.05).
The 400-yard freestyle relay win went to Lacaria, Signorelli, Soltesz and Wilson (4:21.99), followed by Dodrill, Julia Mueller, Lane and Hess (4.55:51). The boys’ win was captured by RCB, but the Indians’ Viktor Rodriquez, Reed Smith, Knapp and Marcel Rodriquez finished second in 4:05.75.
Grisso and her team now look forward to Saturday’s Big 10 Conference meet, beginning at 3 p.m. at West Virginia Wesleyan College.
“The girls will be facing a talented Fairmont Senior team. We have to do our best and use our best strategy. That’s where the kids earning third and fourth places will give us points and might take us over the edge,” Grisso said. “For the boys, I would say Elkins and Fairmont Senior are our biggest competitors. Both have excellent swimmers.”
All Marion County schools are included in the conference, as well as Buckhannon, Elkins and Harrison County schools with the exception of Notre Dame.
The regional swim meet is the following Saturday, Feb. 3, also 3 p.m. at WVWC.
Editor's Note: Photo is by Joey Signorelli of Ben Queen Photography. See more images of the county swim championships HERE.
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