BHS Boys Take First Place in Season-Opening Swim Meet, Girls Finish Fifth; Indians Win Six Races
By Chris Johnson on November 21, 2023
The Bridgeport High School swim season began last week at The Bridge Invitiational and it was a strong day for the Indians as the boys took first place out of 10 schools and the girls finished fifth out of 15 schools.
BHS won a total of six events.
The boys took first place in three indvidual races as Owen Guthrie won the 100 freestyle with a time of 49.64, Jacob Keener crossed the finish line at 5:17.39 to win the 500 free and Cole Parsons captured first place in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:05.88.
Guthrie and Keener’s times set new meet records, while Parsons’ just missed. Keener had the previous record in the 500 free at 5:22.62 set last year.
The BHS boys also had meet record times in two relays. The 200 free team of James Hadjis, Anderson Mitchell, Oren Sutphin and Guthrie finished at 1:35.47. And in the final race of the day, Hadjis, Keener, Parsons and Guthrie brought home the win the 400 free with a time of 3:29.52.
Amelia Romano had the other first-place finish for the Indians as she won the 100 free at 57.61. Romano’s other individual event, the 200 free, resulted in a runner-up finish with a time of 2:05.71.
Hadjis had a pair of second-place times for the BHS boys in individual events as he finished at 2:11.05 in the 200 IM and 23.44 in the 50 free.
Guthrie added a runner-up finish in the 100 butterfly at 54.37.
Keener, Parsons, Mitchell and Sutphin added a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:47.79.
BHS won the team standings with 134 points. George Washington was second at 110 with Wheeling Park (73), Parkersburg South (66) and Morgantown (46) rounding out the Top 5.
In addition to finishing first or second in eight of the 11 events, the BHS boys picked up points from: Michael Hadjis, fourth in the 100 breast at 1:11.78; Keener fourth in the 100 back at 59.94; Sutphin fifth in the 50 free at 24.46 and sixth in the 100 free at 54.12; Mitchell fifth in the 100 butterfly at 1:01.88 and seventh in the 200 free at 2:12.05; Zach Nicholson fifth in the 500 free at 6:01.22 and sixth in the 200 free at 2:11.18 and Nate Dodson seventh in the 200 free at 2:12.05 and eighth in the 200 IM at 2:32.15.
The BHS girls finished with 54.5 points. Parkersburg South won with 74. Morgantown was runner-up at 68. Herbert Hoover came in third with 65 and George Washington was fourth at 63.
In addition to her first and second-place results in individual events, Romano was part of two relay teams that scored points for the Indians.
She was joined by Gretchen Lang, Kaylin Terneus and Kira Gazal on the third-place 400 free team that finished with a time of 4:15.59.
Romano, Terneus and Lang were joined by Jacie Wood on the 200 medley relay team that came in fourth with a time of 2:08.60.
Gazal added a fourth-place finish in the 100 backstroke at 1:11.89 and a seventh-place finish in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:13.09.
Lang was fifth in the 500 free with a time of 5:58.42 and sixth in the 200 IM at 2:37.75.
Wood added a seventh-place finish in the 100 breast at 1:21.13 and Terneus was eighth in the 100 back at 1:14.01.
Editor's Note: Top photo of Keener and bottom photo of Romano by Joe LaRocca.
