Records were set, races were won and team titles were secured. Just another day at the office for the Bridgeport swim teams.

 

However, Saturday’s Region III championship meet at West Virginia Wesleyan also served as the qualifying event for the state meet.

 

The Indians were pretty successful with that too.

 

Of the 22 possible events at a swim meet, BHS qualified for the state tournament (Feb. 20-21 in Morgantown) in 18 of them. At least 15 different swimmers will compete in states. That number is likely to increase when the at-large selections are finalized.

 

To automatically qualify for the state meet, you must place in the Top 3 in an individual event or the Top 2 in a relay event. Once all four regional meets are complete, the next best 12 times in individual events and 10 times in relay events from the regions combined, also earn a trip to states.

 

The Bridgeport boys, who are the defending state champions and a perfect 13-0 this season, won regional titles in nine events. The girls, last year’s state runner-up, took home four regional wins.

 

The Indians swept the team titles, the boys finishing with 167 points compared to 80 for runner-up Robert C. Byrd. The girls won with 143 points and Buckhannon-Upshur was second with 125 points.

 

All six relay teams qualified by either winning or placing second — a major step for any school wanting to compete for the team state championship — and two meet records were set in individual events, one by Randy Keener and one by Marra Johnson.

 

Six BHS swimmers made the all-region team. Johnson and Cheyanne Rohde for the girls and Kenner, Marcel Rodriguez, Luke Pinti and Mason Titchenal for the boys.

 

“I was a little nervous coming into this,” Bridgeport coach Jan Grisso said. “I had some trouble sleeping last night. But I’m really happy with how we did. Getting all the relay teams in was great. Randy and Marra both had great days, breaking records. I can’t complain that’s for sure.”

 

Keener’s record came in the 100 backstroke as he finished with a time of 52.72, breaking the previous mark of 53.27 set by Bridgeport’s Michael Walker in 2005.

 

Johnson, who has come close to setting meet records in the 100 breaststoke in her last couple of races, finally got over the hump at the regional with a time of 1:10.56, breaking the 2015 mark of 1:11.10 by Notre Dame’s Cassie Oltman.

 

BHS started the regional meet strong by sweeping the 200 medley relay races.

 

The girls team of Rohde, Lilly Madden, Darian Spencer and Cheri Signorelli won with a time of 1:58.83. For the boys, Keener was joined by Pinti, Titchenal and Reed Smith as they took first place with a time of 1:43.05.

 

Johnson and Keener also swept the 200 IM for the Indians. Johnson won with a time of 2:21.01 and Keener was first with a time of 2:01.60.

 

The BHS boys actually took all three automatic state berth spots as Pinti was second at 2:16.41 and Reese Allen was third at 2:19.74.

 

“Reese Allen probably surprised us more than anything,” Grisso said. “He just did a wonderful job. He took 10 seconds off his IM.”

 

Rohde finished second in the 50 free with a time of 25.33. She trailed only B-U’s Cadence Vincent who set a regional record with a time of 24.58.

 

Rodriguez gave the boys another win in the 50 free, finishing with a time of 23.14.

 

Spencer placed second in the 100 fly with a time of 1:03.52, while in the boys race, Titchenal won with a time of 56.90.

 

“It felt pretty good,” Titchenal said. “I wanted to get a comfortable time in the 100 fly and get a guaranteed spot at the state meet.”

 

Maria Lacaria gave the BHS a third-place finish in the 100 free with a time of 1:00.92 — in another event where Vincent set a meet record, winning with a time of 52.88.

 

After each picking up a win in the previous two individual races, Rodriguez and Titchenal battled head-to-head in the 100 free. Rodriquez picked up the win with a time of 50.85 and Titchenal was second at 51.57.

 

“I think teammates swimming against each other has a positive affect on both,” Rodriguez said. “You push each other to go faster.”

 

The girls 200 freestyle relay was arguably the best race of the day as B-U’s team of Alayna Whitehair, McKenzie Reynolds, Cameron Zuliani and Vincent edged the Indians’ team of Lacaria, Johnson, Spencer and Rohde, 1:44.63 – 1:44.85.

 

The BHS boys picked up their second relay win with Phillip Malenich, Smith, Pinti and Rodriquez winning with a time of 1:36.30.

 

Rohde and Hope Rieser went 1-2 in the 100 backstroke for the girls. Rohde won with a time of 1:00.62 and Rieser finished at 1:08.31.

 

Next up was Keener’s record-setting swim. Malenich also earned a spot at states in the 100 back with a third-place time of 1:01.71.

Then it was Johnson’s turn to put her name in the record books.

 

“That was amazing,” Johnson said. “I have been close and even last week I wanted it but came up just short and I kind of thought, ‘Well, there is always next year’ so I  was a little surprised I was able to get it today."

 

Pinti and Ryan Knapp went 1-2 in the boys 100 breaststroke, Pinti winning at 1:04.09 and Knapp coming in at 1:06.11.

 

The girls’ day ended with a second-place finish in the 400 free relay as Lacaria, Rieser, Johnson and Spencer finished at 4:00.90.

 

The boys made it a clean sweep in the relays with a regional title time of 3:29.65 by Titchenal, Malenich, Rodriguez and Keener.

 

Other regional wins went to Notre Dame’s Caitlin Oltman in 200 free (2:03.63), B-U’s Preston Bennett in the 200 free (1:53.19), B-U’s Zuliani in the 100 fly (1:01.72), Woodrow Wilson’s Savannah Hughes in the 500 free (6:00.12), B-U’s Bennett with a record time of 5:07.22 in the boys 500 free and the B-U girls team of Vincent, Jenny Williams, Whitehair and Zuliani in the 400 free relay (3:55.36).

 

Rohde and Johnson were joined on the girls all-region team by Vincent, Zuliani, Oltman and Huges.

 

Rounding out the boys all-region team was Bennett and RCB’s Zac Basler.

 

Connect-Bridgeport will have all the Bridgeport at-large berths in the state meet once they become official by the WVSSAC.

 

A video of Keener's record-setting 100 backstroke, from the regional meet can be seen below.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo is of Bridgeport's all-regional team selections (from left to right) Mason Titchenal, Marcel Rodriguez, Cheyanne Rohde, Marra Johnson, Luke Pinti and Randy Keener. Second photo is of the boys team with the regional trophy, while the third is of the girls team with the regional trophy. Bottom photo is of Titchneal and Reed Smith.