The talent level of high school girls swimmers was on full display at the state meet on Tuesday at the Mylan Park Aquatic Center in Morgantown as seven meet records were set.

 

The Bridgeport High School girls finished fifth in the deep field with 120 points. George Washington captured the team championship with 201.5 and was followed by Morgantown (156.5), Wheeling Park (127) and Buckhannon-Upshur (123).

 

“We saw times drop in every event and our relays were really great,” BHS coach Wendy Madden said. “The field is just that deep, there is so much talent out there. The great thing about it is so many of them are friends.”

 

The Indians’ 200 medley relay team of Cheyanne Rohde, Lilly Madden, Olivia Urse and Marra Johnson came in fourth with a time of 1:53.82. GW took first place with a time of 1:50.46.

 

Johnson was fourth in the 200 IM with a time of 2:17.32 – more than two seconds better than her regional time. She was also fourth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:10.12. The title in that event went to Wheeling Park’s Jenna Bopp with a time of 1:06.35.

 

Urse came in third in the 100 butterfly with a time of 59.90. Morgantown’s Caroline Riggs took first with a time of 56.08.

 

Johnson and Rohde were joined by Hope Rieser and Kelsey Dorchak in finishing fourth in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:46.20.

 

The Indians had two swimmers place in the Top 5 in the 100 backstroke with Urse coming in third with a time of 59.92 and Rohde coming in fifth at 1:00.28. Parkersburg South’s Jordan Claypoole won the backstroke state title with a time of 59.27.

 

In the third and final relay, the BHS girls finished fifth as Rieser, Jenna Wood, Rohde and Urse teamed to swim a time of 3:55.85.

 

Also for the BHS girls, Madden was 13^th in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:16.17 and 17^th in the 200 IM with a time of 2:33.31. Dorchak was 16^th in the 50 free with a time of 28.22 and Wood finished 21^st with a time of 1:03.97 in the 100 freestyle.

 

The first three individual events saw new state meet records set. In the 200 freestyle Abby Turner won with a record-setting time of 1:49.41. In the 200 IM, George Washington’s Madilyn McGlothen won with a time of 2:03.26 and in the 50 free, Buckhannon-Upshur’s Cadence Vincent crushed her own record of 23.69 with a blistering 23.11.

 

Vincent outlasted Turner for another win and meet record in the 100 freestyle. The B-U sophomore finished with a time of 50.39. The previous record was 51.61.

 

McGlothen picked up her second record, capturing the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:56.83. She broke her own mark of 5:01.40 set in 2020.

 

Riggs swam the anchor leg for Morgantown as the Mohigans broke the 200 freestyle relay record with a time of 1:39.84. She was joined by Katelyn Blosser, Lillian Linscheld and Delaney Householder. The previous record was held by Elkins at 1:41.05 set in 2012.

 

GW put the finishing touches on the team title by winning the 400 freestyle relay with a new record time of 3:37.14. McGlothen was part of the squad and was joined by Ashlee Wilcher, Ameila Walko and Olvia Ridenour. GW had the previous record of 3:40.08 set in 2016.

 

Editor's Note: Photo of the BHS fourth-place 200 freestyle relay team. Pictured from left to right: Rohde, Johnson, Dorchak and Rieser. Photo by www.benqueenphotography.com