MORGANTOWN — It was 11:15 a.m., and the WVU Natatorium was nearly empty following the boys’ preliminary session at the WVSSAC State Swimming Championship. The competition ended about 20 minutes prior, and most of the swimmers left the premises. University freshman Frankie McCutchan was still in the water.
McCutchan is no stranger to getting in extra time in the pool, and he showed just how much his hard work paid off Thursday as he set new school records in the 200-IM (2:03.22) and the 500-free (4:54.64) en route to winning both races. He will compete as the top-seed in today’s finals.
“I’m really happy with my performance today. I wasn’t expecting to go as fast as I did. I went out a little faster than I thought I would, but I’m happy I did,” he said.
His lengthy cool-down session is nothing unordinary; he has spent numerous hours each day perfecting his craft over the course of the season. McCutchan will often double-up on swim practices and is often the first one in the pool and the last one out.
“It takes a lot of work to be seeded first in a competition like this. I always swim club and high school in the same day, and sometimes, there will be morning practices at 5 a.m. It takes a lot of yards and a lot of effort, but I think it’s all worth it to be able to perform in meets like this,” he said.
McCutchan joined Daniel Phillips, Nathan Mizener and Zach Ribas in the 200-medley relay, where they also set a new school record (1:51.17), earning a seventh-place finish to advance to the consolation race today.
McCutchan, Mizner, Ribas and Alex Dean also moved on the consolation race in the 400-free relay with a 10th-place finish (3:41.81).
“The goal of today was a culmination of the hard work they’ve done. Today they put that work into the pool, and it shows how hard they worked,” coach Joanna White said. “This is one of the highest numbers we’ve had — I’ve been at state meets where we’ve only had one or two swimmers, so this is really exciting.”
Girls
The younger McCutchan may have set the tone for University on Thursday, but by the end of the night, the eldest had her fair share of accomplishments.
Senior Jacqueline McCutchan advanced to finals in two individual events, capturing the top-seed in the 100-butterfly with a school-record time (57.89) and finishing second in the 50-free (24.62). She also earned a school record in the 100-free (53.53) as the lead leg of the 400-free relay.
“I’m really pleased and I’m really excited. I trained really hard, and meets like this where you’re dropping times and going out with best times is really exciting,” she said. “We put so much time and effort in, and having it work out at the end of the year makes me happy.”
White thinks that the sibling dynamic helps drive Frankie and Jacqueline to be more successful.
“It’s been really neat to see. They’re huge supports for each other, and I’ve seen her competitive side toward him come out towards him which I think has helped push her this season,” White said.
“I think it’s probably really cool for Frankie to have that experience with his sister on the team, too. They’re siblings, and they compete in between the lanes when we practice, but I feel like they’ve been able to grow in their own name.”
McCutchan will also advance to finals alongside Victoria Maumbe, Emma Kitzmiller and Mia Rice in the 400-free relay, which earned a fourth-place finish (4:00.47). The same unit will compete in the 200-medley relay consolation race after finishing seventh (2:02.26), while Rice advanced to finals as an individual with a fifth-place finish in the 200 Free (2:02.59) and a sixth-place finish in the 100-breaststroke (1:13.68)
