Bridgeport and George Washington battled it out nearly until the end Friday to decide the boys’ state swimming championships. However, the longer the evening went, the more distance the Indians put on their rivals.
In the end, Bridgeport pulled away from the Patriots and also the rest of the field to capture swimming gold. It marks the boys’ third team title and first since 2019.
The Indians captured two individual titles on Thursday — Owen Guthrie in the 50 freestyle (20.69) and also the 100 freestyle, with a new state record in the 100 at 45.16. On Friday, the team swam to a title in the 200 freestyle relay — also a new state record at 1:27.41 — and then added yet another state record in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:13.72.
The state swimming championship is spread over two days. Half the events took place Thursday, with preliminaries in the morning and finals in the afternoon. The final five events — both preliminary and finals — were Friday, with champions being crowned for boys and girls for AAA schools and also AA/A schools.
Bridgeport captured the boys’ AAA title, while Bridgeport and John Marshall High School tied to be named co-champions for the girls. In the Class AA/A division, Elkins won the girls championship. The Lady Tigers were the defending champions from the 2023-24 swim season and also were the girls overall high-point team at this year’s event, turning in a dominating performance over two days. The boys small school award went to Elkins as well.
The state title for John Marshall is the first in the school’s history. Fairmont Senior finished as runner-up in the big-school division for the girls.
Local swimmers
Several Morgantown High swimmers had a strong Friday in the pool. Junior Christian Hammer, coming off an individual state title in Thursday’s 100 butterfly, finished second in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:56.01. Mohigans freshman Ellie Perella also had a strong showing in the 500 free, finishing third at 5:19.82. Teammate Avery Householder, a junior, was fifth at 5:34.59.
In the 200 freestyle relay, the boys team of Lincoln Alugbuo, James McGinnis, Owen Gregory and Hammer finished fourth at 1:35.64.
Morgantown’s girls team of Maya Nalakan, Avery Householder, Audrey Kurilchick-Green and Ellie Perella finished third in the 400 free relay while the boys’ squad of Alugbuo, Gregory, McGinnis and Hammer finished fourth.
By JOHN McCABE
