After Thursday’s first session of WVSSAC high school swim preliminaries at the West Virginia University Natatorium, several Bridgeport High School girls advance to consolation finals and one girls’ relay team advances to state finals.

 

Competing in tomorrow’s finals at the West Virginia University Natatorium are the 200-yard medley relay team of freshman Darian Spencer, senior Kaitlyn Pinti, junior Sarah Stallman and senior Catie Wilson and the 200-yard freestyle relay team of Spencer, Stallman, senior Catie Wilson and sophomore Maria Lacaria 

 

In the consolation finals, Spencer will swim 100-yard breaststroke and 100-yard butterfly; Stallman, Wilson and sophomore Maria Lacaria will swim 100-yard freestyle; Stallman and Wilson will compete in the 50-yard freestyle; Cheri Signorelli, Jaryn Dodrill, Jenna Soltesz and Lacaria will swim 400-yard freestyle relay.

 

BHS hit the ground running in the first event of the day: The 200-yard medley relay. Swimming for the Tribe were Spencer, Pinti, Stallman and Wilson. With a time of 2:00.11, the girls finished in sixth place, qualifying them for state finals and swimming against Wheeling Park, Parkersburg, George Washington, Charleston Catholic and Fairmont Senior; teams placing first through fifth, respectively.

 

The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Spencer, Stallman, Wilson and Maria Lacaria (pictured left) not only qualified for finals, but also broke a Bridgeport High School record. The girls placed fifth, swimming the race in 1:45.19, breaking the 2008 BHS record of 1:45.22. 

 

Spencer also advanced in the 100-yard breaststroke event. Though she shaved off a fraction of her seed time and completed the race in 1:15.41, she finished seventh, just missing finals. Pinti finished 24^th in 1:22.21.

 

In the 100-yard freestyle event, the Indians placed three in the top 12. Stallman finished seventh in 58.26 well off her seed time of 55.49. Wilson finished 10^th in 59.47 and sophomore Maria Lacaria finished 12^th in 59.96.

 

Stallman and Wilson placed eighth and 11^th, respectively, in the 50-yard freestyle race. Stallman completed the race in 26.04 and Wilson in 26.54. Maria Lacaria finished 15^th with a time of 26.95.

Bridgeport had one swimmer competing in the 100-yard backstroke. Freshman Hope Rieser finished 11^th in 1:08.62.

 

Two Bridgeport swimmers competed in the 100-yard butterfly. Spencer placed 10^th (1:06.33) and freshman Vaughn Vincent placed 17^th (1:09.98).

 

In the 200-freestyle event, Bridgeport’s Cheri Signorelli placed 15^th with a time of 2:16.94. Jenna Soltesz placed 13^th in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:30.97.

 

In the last race of the morning – the 400-yard freestyle relay – Bridgeport’s team of Signorelli, Jaryn Dodrill, Soltesz and Lacaria finished in 4:11.35, knocking nearly three seconds off their seed time of 4:14.19, winding up in ninth place.

 

Boys’ preliminaries begin at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. The top six times for individual and relay events advance to state finals. Places seventh through 12^th advance to consolation finals.

 

Finals and consolation finals will be held Friday at the same location. Girls swim at 8:30 a.m. and boys at 4:30 p.m.

 

Team members and fans proudly wore T-shirts in support of "The Janimals," coached by Jan Grisso and Jack Merinar. 

 

Editor's Note: Below see video of one heat of the 100-yard freestyle event. Bridgeport's Sarah Stallman swims in lane four.  She finished second in her heat and seventh overall.