BHS Swimmers Shine at Region III Meet as Girls Win Team Title, Boys Finish Second; Indians Take First in 11 Events, Set 3 Records
By Chris Johnson on April 10, 2021 via Connect-Bridgeport.com
The Bridgeport High School girls won the Region III team championship on Saturday, while the boys placed second.
The Indians were a bit shorthanded on both teams as COVID-19 contact tracing issues kept a handful of swimmers out of action.
Still, the Indians won regional titles in nine events and set three meet records. They also placed second or third in six events. The top three results in each individual event automatically qualify for the state meet and for relays it is the top two.
Bridgeport will also likely have a decent amount of at-large bids as the 12 fastest remaining times for all four of the state’s regions combined will go to states. In relays, it is the next 10 fastest teams from the combined regions.
Two BHS swimmers won a pair of individual races on Saturday – Marra Johnson for the girls and Randy Keener for the boys.
Johnson won the 200 IM at 2:19.37 and the 100 backstroke at 1:10.97. She was also part of the first-place 200 medley relay team that won with a time of 1:55.03. She was joined by Lilly Madden, Olivia Urse and Cheyanne Rohde.
Rohde won the 100 backstroke with a sub 1:00 time of 59.77 and Urse took the regional title in the 100 butterfly at 1:00.16.
Urse, Rohde and Madden were joined by Jenna Wood in winning the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 4:05.42.
Urse also qualified for states with a second place time of 1:00.66 in the 100 backstroke. Lilly Madden punched her ticket in the 100 breaststroke with a third-place time of 1:15.61.
The BHS girls made it three-for-three with relays headed to states as Johnson and Rohde were joined by Kennedy Bealko and Kelsey Dorchak to swim a second-pace time of 1:50.37 in the 200 freestyle.
Keener broke his own regional record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 51.23. And he just missed setting a new record in the 200 IM as took first with a time of 1:56.83.
Mason Titchenal and Luke Pinti also set meet records. Titchenal’s came in the 100 butterfly with a time of 54.22 and Pinti’s came in the 100 breaststoke at 1:00.94.
Keener, Titchenal and Pinti were joined by Justin Wright in winning the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:42.94.
Pinti also qualified for states in the 200 IM with a second-place time of 2:09.44.
The BHS boys’ other two relay teams are also going to states after finishing as the runner-up in the regionals.
In the 200 free, Titchenal, Wright, Pinti and Reese Allen finished with a time of 1:38.14.
Closing out the day was the 400 free team of Titchenal, Allen, Wright and Keener with a time of 3:37.22.
More from the regional including all the at-large qualifiers will be available on Connect-Bridgeport in the upcoming days.
Editor's Note: Top photo of Johnson, Rohde and Urse with coach Wendy Madden and bottom photo of Keener, Titchenal, Pinti and Justin Wright (in pool) by Joey Signorelli for www.benqueenphotography.com
