West Virginia had a strong first day as a stacked West Virginia State Games produced several strong swims.
West Virginia Press Release
The West Virginia University men’s swimming and diving team won six events on the first day of at the WV State Games at Marshall's Frederick A. Fitch Natatorium, on Friday.
The Mountaineer men opened the 2016-17 season in dominating fashion, winning all six events and claiming the top two spots in all but one event. The women’s team posted five top-three finishes, including two on springboard and two in relay competition.
Sophomores Merwane El Merini and Drew Damich led the way with three victories, two as part of relay teams.
“Overall it was a pretty solid day,” coach Vic Riggs said. “Our race splitting was very good and we saw some things that we can improve on for the next two sessions. We had some strong swims from our freshmen today. We had several season-best times and improvements from times at this meet last year, which is a good way to start the year.”
Marshall hosted the event, welcoming eight teams for the sixth annual WV State Games - Wheeling Jesuit, West Virginia Wesleyan, West Virginia Institute of Technology, Fairmont State, Salem International, Davis & Elkins College, Alderson Broaddus University and WVU.
The WV State Games conclude on Saturday, splitting the remaining 28 events into two sessions, the first starting at 9 a.m. ET, with the women’s 200 medley relay and the second session at 3 p.m., with the women’s 1,650 freestyle.
WVU men’s team dominated in the 200 individual medley, sweeping the top-13 places. Sophomore Drew Damich won the race, touching the wall in 1:56.95, while senior Austin Green placed second with a time of 1:58.32. The 3-5 finishes came from West Virginia’s freshmen, Robert Wylie in third (1:58.66), Jack Portmann in fourth (1:58.88) and Luke Hene in fifth (1:59.68).
In the men’s 500 freestyle, West Virginia swept the top eight finishes, with freshman Trayton Saladin winning his first individual race as a Mountaineer with a time of 4:40.79. Following Saladin was junior Chris McMahon in second place with a time of 4:41.15, junior James Koval in third (4:41.90), Damich in fourth (4:45.38) and freshman Robert Wylie in fifth (4:45.78).
For the women, sophomore Morgan Carr finished in second place in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:07.85. Freshman Morgan Bullock came in fourth in 2:08.82.
In the men’s 50 freestyle, El Merini touched the wall in first place with a time of 20.89, followed by freshman Sam Neaveill in third place (21.70).
The Mountaineer men grabbed 1-2 finishes in the 200 freestyle relay. In first place was El Merini, Neaveill, freshman Matthew Marsh and Damich with a time of 1:24.55. In second place was McMahon, freshman Ryan Kelly, junior Daniel Rodriguez and Portmann.
In relay competition for the women’s squad, WVU posted a second-place finish in the 400 medley relay and took third in the 200 freestyle relay.
Junior Amelie Currat, sophomore Marah Bieger and freshman Julia Miranda and Bullock took second place in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:55.40.
The WVU men tallied another 1-2 finish in the 400 medley relay. The winning team came from El Merini, sophomore Jake Armstrong, freshman Gabe Swardson and Damich with a time of 3:29.49. A team consisting of freshmen, Austin Hartke, Portmann, freshman Jack Frazier and Neaviell, placed second in the event (3:30.30).
On springboard, the Mountaineer divers dominated, as the men took the top-three finishes on 1-meter and the women went 1-2 on 3-meter.
Sophomore Julia Calcut won the women’s 3-meter, scoring 273.075, and teammate Madeline Woods placed second with a score of 232.875. For the men, freshman Gerald Hodges won on the 1-meter board, scoring 281.625, followed by juniors Alex Obendorf with a 278.4 and Michael Proietto with a 263.925.
In the women’s 500 freestyle event, Carr also posted a fourth-place finish.
Following this weekend, West Virginia returns home to the WVU Natatorium to host the Big 12 vs. Big East Weekend on Friday, October 14, at 6 p.m., and Saturday, October 15, at 10 a.m. The Mountaineer men and women will compete against Seton Hall and Xavier, while the women will also face Butler.
