WELLSBURG — While it may have been a cold afternoon in Wellsburg Saturday with snow blowing through the air after the area had been hit with a winter storm days earlier, the action in the pool at the Brooke Wellness Center heated up as scheduled.

Teams from across the area dove in and battled for spots in the state tournament during the WVSSAC Region 1 Championship Swim Meet inside the Brooke Natatorium.

Two teams left with the team hardware, as Morgantown turned in the top team score in the girls portion of the event and Parkersburg South claimed the regional title on the boys side.

Wheeling Park, which advanced a number of swimmers to the state meet, was the only school to place on the podium in both the boys and girls portions, taking second in the girls team scores and third in the boys.

GIRLS

The Mohigans finished with an overall team score of 131.5 to top the podium, while the Patriots finished seven points better than third place John Marshall with a 78.

Host Brooke came in just off the podium with a 64, while Wheeling Central placed seventh, Oak Glen ninth and Weir High 10th.

In the first event of the day, Park’s 200-yard medley relay team came up just over seven seconds off Mogantown’s regional record setting effort, turning in a 2:02.81. The Mohigans broke a record set by Park in 2018 with a 1:53.70.

Park’s quartet of Ava Sunseri, Abby Heilmen, Maddie Ross and Victoria Anderson advanced from the event with a top-two finish.

Anderson backed up the relay performance with a third-place showing in the 200 freestyle at 2:10.03, while Maddie Ross turned in a 2:21.37 in the 200 individual medley to place a qualifying third.

Brooke’s Veronica Mann finished the 50 freestyle in 26.12 to make the top-three and give the hosts a qualifier. Parkersburg South’s Jordan Claypool set a new regional record at 24.60.

The Patriots’ Rosalyn Hill placed third in the 100 butterfly with a 1:11.42, while Ross was third in the 100 freestyle in 57.38.

The John Marshall group of Maitlyn Miller, Kaitlyn Cochran, Sierra Taylor and Victoria Kidney topped the 200 freestyle relay to give the Monarchs an event win with a 1:50.82, about a half a second faster than second place Brooke (Haeley Shaffer, Ella McCullough, Lyla Horvath and Mann), which finished in 1:51.49.

Kidney got an individual win for the Monarchs, finishing the 100 backstroke in 1:00.07, more than five seconds quicker than Wheeling Central’s JulieAnne Humpe who finished in 1:05.71.

Heilmen was second in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:12.87, while the Maroon Knights’ Abie Riedel rounded out the podium with a 1:13.54.

Hill, Anderson, Heilmen and Ross made up the 400 freestyle relay team for the Patriots that placed second in 4:03.86.

BOYS

Parkersburg South (126 points) and Parkersburg (94 points) took the top two spots on the boys side, in front of Wheeling Park with 85.

Wheeling Central was sixth, Brooke seventh, Weir eighth, Oak Glen ninth and John Marshall 10th.

Park’s Owen Leary paced the 50 freestyle with a 22.04, while teammate Grant Schehl finished in the all-important top-three with a 24.47.

Wheeling Central’s Caden Ondrejko was the runner-up in the 100 butterfly with a time of 57.82, while Leary got another win in the 100 freestyle with a 48.01.

The Patriots’ 200 freestyle relay team of Schehl, Ethan Waldeck, Ethan Bryant and Leary topped the podium in a time of 1:35.72.

Weir High’s Ryan Speirs snuck in the top three in the 100 backstroke by eight one hundredths of a second with a time of 1:01.61.

Schehl, Waldreck, Bryant and Leary gave the Patriots another qualifying relay unit with a second place swim in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:33.05.