MORGANTOWN – Winter sports got underway on Monday evening at Mylan Aquatic Center as the beginning of the swimming season for Morgantown and University finally arrived.
The Mohigans and Hawks sent swimmers into the pool on both the boys and girls sides and were joined by a mix of schools that included; Parkersburg, North Marion, and Philip Barbour. A total of 22 events were held (11 for each the boys and the girls) with some having multiple heats.
The girls 200-yard freestyle relay began the evening and the Mohigans took the top spot with a time of 1.59:55. Junior Delany Householder, who swam the first leg of the race for MHS, said the first meet of the year is always much-anticipated.
“The first meet of the season is always very exciting,” she said. “Everyone is anxious to get back in the water to race and see what we can do.”
The MHS boys reciprocated the result of the girls relay team with a time of 1.49:92.
The individual races got off to a great start as well, particularly in the girls 200-yard freestyle race. UHS senior Becka Chmiel and MHS senior Lillian Linscheid were racing evenly until late in the contest when Linscheid pulled ahead, winning with a time of 2.04:56.
On the boys side in the 50-yard freestyle, another close race would see MHS and UHS involved. Mohigan junior Daniel Hammer and UHS’ Sully O’Sullivan finished first and third, respectively, but the times were much closer than the standings reflected as O’Sullivan finished behind Hammer by just over a second.
Daniel was then followed by his younger brother, freshman Christian Hammer, in the 100-yard butterfly race in which the younger brother finished second with a time of 58.50. Both will look to make an impact on the Mohigan boys team this year, something head coach Eric Householder spoke about earlier in the week.
Senior Caroline Riggs swam a 53.54 in her first individual event for MHS on the season, the 100-yard freestyle. The Yale commit will hope to have a strong senior season before heading off to the division one level.
Riggs isn’t the only one looking to help MHS get back to the state meet, as Householder comes into her junior year as a captain and is taking a big step in leadership from last year as a sophomore.
“I don’t feel that much added pressure,” she said in regard to the upcoming season. “The ultimate goal is just to do my best and have fun in the process. I’m most excited for swimming in relays with my sister (freshman Avery Householder) and hopefully swimming well at regionals and states.”
UHS head coach Nicolle Davis says getting the first meet under the belt of the new swimmers is a big moment and going forward they will know what to expect.
“The team feels great after tonight,” she said. “They did a lot better than expected and we only had one DQ which is wonderful for their first meet and the swimmers who had never swum competitively. I am very happy with how they did tonight and we can only do better from here.”
The Hawks will look to improve upon Monday’s times when they travel to Brooke for a meet on November 29th.
MHS will return to Mylan Aquatic Center for the MoHawk invitational of December 3rd.
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