The Kanawha Valley's breadth and depth in the pool was on display Friday.
The Kanawha Valley's breadth and depth in the pool was on display Friday.
George Washington repeated as team champion at the boys state swim meet after overcoming a huge deficit while the rest of the Kanawha Valley was simply spectacular at the West Virginia University Natatorium in Morgantown.
An individual or relay team from Kanawha County or Putnam County won 10 of 11 events in the boys meet while five of the top six finishes in the team scoring also belonged to Valley squads.
The girls also lived up to those lofty standards as George Washington finished runner-up again, falling six points shy of defending state champion Morgantown. GW, which last won a state title in 2004 as the second of back-to-back crowns, has earned second-place finishes in six of the past eight state meets. Nitro senior Megan Clemens captured two individual titles, winning the 200- and 500-yard freestyle. The senior took second in the 200 free last year.
GW's boys overcame quite a bit to secure back-to-back championships. The Patriots' 200 medley relay team was disqualified at last weekend's Region 4 meet when a swimmer left the starting block early. Relay events are worth double the points.
The Patriots were in third Friday after six of the 11 events when they made their move in the 500 freestyle. Sophomore Zach Kidd (second), senior Jackson Lilly (fifth) and freshman Matt Nelson (ninth) picked up enough points in the event to vault the Patriots into first place and they never looked back.
"Once the guys got the lead they weren't going to give it up,'' said GW coach Melissa Case in a phone interview. "It took every one of them and every one of them rose to the challenge and did it.''
The Patriots, who didn't have an individual or team champion, amassed 185 points and coasted to their third championship by a 55-point margin over Bridgeport, last year's runner-up, which totaled 130. Charleston Catholic finished strong with 122 points for third followed by Hurricane (116), South Charleston (91) and Capital (89).
"I had kids who weren't supposed to even get in the top 12 who ended up swimming in the top six and coming home with medals around their necks,'' said Case, who also led the GW boys to a state championship in 2009.
"It's definitely satisfying. We're a deep team, but the character of the kids and their will to win ... all of them were clutch when they had to be. They really wanted to do this.''
Patriots junior Jacob Nason took second in the 100 butterfly and third in the 200 individual medley. Other top performers for GW were Kidd, who also took fourth in the 200 free, sophomore Josh Barnette, who was fifth in the 200 free and sixth in the 100 breaststroke, sophomore Chris Kay, who was second in the 100 back and fifth in the 100 free and freshman Nick Peyatte, who was fifth in the 100 breaststroke. GW finished second in the 400 free and fourth in the 200 free relays.
The Patriot girls needed to win the last event of the meet to pull out their first state title in eight years, but finished fourth in the 400 free. Morgantown accumulated 170 points to earn back-to-back titles and its fourth overall, followed by GW (164), Buckhannon-Upshur (1411/2), Elkins (1211/2) and Notre Dame (93).
The Kanawha Valley's breadth and depth in the pool was on display Friday.
George Washington repeated as team champion at the boys state swim meet after overcoming a huge deficit while the rest of the Kanawha Valley was simply spectacular at the West Virginia University Natatorium in Morgantown.
An individual or relay team from Kanawha County or Putnam County won 10 of 11 events in the boys meet while five of the top six finishes in the team scoring also belonged to Valley squads.
The girls also lived up to those lofty standards as George Washington finished runner-up again, falling six points shy of defending state champion Morgantown. GW, which last won a state title in 2004 as the second of back-to-back crowns, has earned second-place finishes in six of the past eight state meets. Nitro senior Megan Clemens captured two individual titles, winning the 200- and 500-yard freestyle. The senior took second in the 200 free last year.
GW's boys overcame quite a bit to secure back-to-back championships. The Patriots' 200 medley relay team was disqualified at last weekend's Region 4 meet when a swimmer left the starting block early. Relay events are worth double the points.
The Patriots were in third Friday after six of the 11 events when they made their move in the 500 freestyle. Sophomore Zach Kidd (second), senior Jackson Lilly (fifth) and freshman Matt Nelson (ninth) picked up enough points in the event to vault the Patriots into first place and they never looked back.
"Once the guys got the lead they weren't going to give it up,'' said GW coach Melissa Case in a phone interview. "It took every one of them and every one of them rose to the challenge and did it.''
The Patriots, who didn't have an individual or team champion, amassed 185 points and coasted to their third championship by a 55-point margin over Bridgeport, last year's runner-up, which totaled 130. Charleston Catholic finished strong with 122 points for third followed by Hurricane (116), South Charleston (91) and Capital (89).
"I had kids who weren't supposed to even get in the top 12 who ended up swimming in the top six and coming home with medals around their necks,'' said Case, who also led the GW boys to a state championship in 2009.
"It's definitely satisfying. We're a deep team, but the character of the kids and their will to win ... all of them were clutch when they had to be. They really wanted to do this.''
Patriots junior Jacob Nason took second in the 100 butterfly and third in the 200 individual medley. Other top performers for GW were Kidd, who also took fourth in the 200 free, sophomore Josh Barnette, who was fifth in the 200 free and sixth in the 100 breaststroke, sophomore Chris Kay, who was second in the 100 back and fifth in the 100 free and freshman Nick Peyatte, who was fifth in the 100 breaststroke. GW finished second in the 400 free and fourth in the 200 free relays.
The Patriot girls needed to win the last event of the meet to pull out their first state title in eight years, but finished fourth in the 400 free. Morgantown accumulated 170 points to earn back-to-back titles and its fourth overall, followed by GW (164), Buckhannon-Upshur (1411/2), Elkins (1211/2) and Notre Dame (93).
"The girls gave it everything they had and I don't think anybody in the state thought we could do that well,'' said Case, who brought six freshmen to states. "It was heartbreaking for my seniors.
"They wanted a state title. They have to feel good coming home with the runner-up trophy because it was a tough, tough field. It was an amazing display of keeping themselves together. Not a girl left anything in the water.''
Patriots junior Anna Davis was fifth in the 100 back and sixth in the 50 free, sophomore Allison Moore was fifth in the 200 free and 500 free, freshman Katie Hageboeck was fifth in the 200 individual medley, senior Heather Gacek finished sixth in the 100 fly and senior Savannah Slaughter third in the 100 back. The Patriots were second in the 200 medley, fourth in the 200 free and fourth in the 400 free relays.
Austin Green powered South Charleston to a top-five showing. The junior captured the 100 free and the 100 breaststroke, setting the only boys meet record Friday. The junior's clocking of 58.29 seconds in the 100 breaststroke will be considered for All-America status, just missing the automatic All-America qualifying time of 57.12.
"I just went out there and swam as hard as I could,'' said Green, who was runner-up in the 100 free last year. "I think I swam to my fullest abilities, but I'm sure there's room for improvement.''
The Black Eagles' Adam Poe finished second in the 50 free and SC also was fifth in the 200 medley relay and seventh in the 200 free relay.
"Our team did great,'' Green said. "All of our swimmers stepped up. [Scott Canterbury, who competes on the 200 medley and 200 free relays] got sick the night before the finals and stuck it out and swam his heart out. We were really happy with his performance. It's a great day to be a Black Eagle.''
Charleston Catholic junior Nate Carr won the 200 individual medley and 100 back while also swimming the final leg on the Fighting Irish's winning 400 free relay. Capital senior Tate Warden took the 500 free and the 200 free, the event in which he was the defending state titlist, and swam the anchor lap on the Cougars' victorious 200 free relay.
Hurricane junior Jack Wright won the 100 fly and was the lead swimmer on the Redskins' winning 200 medley relay. Winfield freshman Madisyn Lyons finished second in the 200 individual medley and 500 free.
Bridgeport's Frank Csonka was the only competitor in the boys division to win a title outside of the Kanawha Valley, taking the 50 free.
Reach Tommy R. Atkinson at tatkin...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-4811.
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