Breaking News
Top Sports

Miller, Jefferson Making Waves For John Marshall Heading Into Region 1 Swim Championships

Parker Leading Park Boys As They Seek Regional Crown

By JOHN McCABE 7 min read

MOUNDSVILLE -- For those who keep an eye on West Virginia's prep swim scene, John Marshall High School has long been considered a distant second in the pool, with most of the attention locally placed on swimmers and teams from Wheeling Park High School, The Linsly School and Brooke High.

That perception has been changing over the past few years, particularly with the emergence of current West Virginia University freshman swimmer Victoria Kidney who won two individual West Virginia state swimming championships during her four years at John Marshall.

One phenomenal swimmer such as Kidney doesn't necessarily change the entire trajectory of a school's swim program. But something seems to be stirring in the water at John Marshall, as the swim program there has seen a growing number of swimmers this season and an increased level of competitiveness in the pool.

In fact, it's safe to say that first-year head coach Timmi Snyder and her Monarch swimmers are making waves heading into Saturday's West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission Region 1 Swim Championships at Brooke High School.

Leading the charge for JM is junior sprinter Maitlyn Miller. Her times this year in the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle are among the fastest in West Virginia. Heading into Saturday's meet,

where the top three finishers in each event receive an automatic birth to the state championships, Miller is seeded second in the 50 freestyle and first in the 100 freestyle.

According to the times Miller has posted this year, Swimcloud, a website that ranks swimmers nationwide, currently has her sitting ninth overall for female swimmers in West Virginia's power rankings.

She sits fourth in Region 1 behind Parkersburg South's Jordan Claypoole and a pair of swimmers from Morgantown High -- Delaney Householder and Lily Linscheid. Wheeling Park High School's Abby Heilman comes in at fifth in the Region 1 rankings.

Miller has posted the second fastest time in Region 1 in the 50 freestyle and fourth best time statewide at 25.73. In the 100 freestyle, her time is third best in Region 1 and eighth-best statewide at 57.24. She finished fourth last year at the state meet in the 50, and ninth in the 100 free.

"Maitlyn's worked really, really hard this year," Snyder said. "She is a competitor. She likes to race. So we'll be holding our breath."

Both the 50 and 100 free "are going to be great races, and I know Maitlyn will show up. ... I see her holding her spots, for sure," Snyder said.

Snyder also noted the growing number of freshman swimmers making a difference for John Marshall this year. Sarah Hess, Zoe Zervos and Ella Finsley are being joined by senior Ava Blake in the 200 medley relay -- a relay that is scoring points this year. The 200 free and 400 free relays also will be competing for a birth to states.

There are only three seniors on the squad --all of them first-year swimmers. So this Monarch team is going to be making a statement for years to come, Snyder believes.

The young swimmers "may not be finalists this year at states, but you are going to see them get progressively faster because they have really good natural ability," she said. "I'm excited because they're young, and they're having so much fun. It's nice to go these big meets and ... score a lot of points."

But it's not just about building a good girl's program. John Marshall's boys have come on strong this season, led by sophomore Wyatt Jefferson. He set a personal best in the 100 breaststroke at the end of last season at 1:11.67; this year, he's dropped nearly 7 seconds. He's the top seed in the 100 breast Saturday with a time of 1:04.91. Jefferson also is seeded fourth in the 200 individual medley.

Snyder sees great things ahead for Jefferson. "He was the (final) qualifier in the breast last year at states. He was our only boy that made states; he sat patiently with the girls during the meet and had a really good swim to finish 21st," she said. "But this year, he's off the charts. He set a new school record in the breast; his success at the end of last year really motivated him to work.

He started swimming more (through the local Cardinal Aquatics program). He worked really hard this summer and decided this is what he wanted, and he was going to go for it.

"He's also set an example for the other boys. They love the excitement of swimming with him. It's really made a difference this year."

Girls to watch on Saturday

Wheeling Park senior swimmer Abby Heilman also will be looking to put her final stamp on regionals Saturday. She placed fifth last year at the state championships in both the 100 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley, and will be looking to improve.

Heading into Saturday, Heilman has the fourth-fastest time this season statewide in the 100 breast at 1:12.25, and the seventh-fastest time in the 200 individual medley (2:24.1).

She's seeded first in the 100 breast for Saturday's Region 1 swim and second in the 200 IM to Householder.

Wheeling Park swim coach Michael Cook is expecting big things for Heilman both Saturday and at the state swim meet in about two weeks.

"Abby Heilman has had a great carrier as a Patriots swimmer," Cook said. "Her dedication to the sport over the last four years has shown time and again, placing at multiple OVAC and state championship meets. She will place very well at the regional and state meet, cementing a great career at Wheeling Park."

Park's Molly George also comes into Saturday as the top seed in the 100 backstroke (1:05.1). Wheeling Central's JulieAnn Humpe is seeded second in the event at 1:07.7. Humpe also is seeded third in the 200 IM while Central's Ellie Manning is seeded sixth in the 200 freestyle.

Brooke High School has a handful of swimmers that could make a mark in Region 1. Lyla Horvath and Ella Dietrich are seeded fourth and fifth in the 200 freestyle; Dietrich and Kiersten Harvath are fourth and fifth in the 100 backstroke; Ella McCullough is seeded second in the 100 breast and third in the 100 free; and Faith Farrell is seeded third in the 50 free at 26.18. Brooke's 200 and 400 freestyle relays both are seeded second heading into the meet.

Boys to watch on Saturday

Wheeling Park's boys will look to continue a strong season that sees them in serious contention with Parkersburg South High School for the overall Region 1 crown.

Leading the way for Park is junior Levi Parker who sits 11th overall in West Virginia's power rankings, according to Swimcloud, and fourth overall in Region 1. He's posted the sixth fastest time this season statewide in the 200 freestyle at 1:50.84; seventh-fastest time in the 100 backstroke at 56.58; ninth fastest time in the 500 freestyle at 5:18.68; and 10th fastest time in the 200 individual medley (2:11.52).

Parker is the top seed Saturday in the 200 freestyle and the second seed in the 100 back.

"Levi has put together a great junior season," Cook said. "He has really worked hard and dedicated himself to help this team. He has great opportunity to place very high in both the regional and the state meets."

Wheeling Park has a number of other likely state qualifiers that will score points Saturday. All three of Park's relay teams -- the 200 medley, the 200 freestyle and the 400 freestyle -- are seeded second behind teams from Parkersburg South. Max Hill is seeded fifth in the 200 freestyle; Jackson Kiziminski is seeded second in the 200 IM (2:13.65) and third in the 100 breast; Nathan LaMagna (23.4) and Malachi Smith (23.47) are seeded 1-2 in the 50 freestyle; Brady Bowie is seeded fifth in the 100 fly; and Smith is seeded third in the 100 free.

Cook sees Park's depth as the team's strength. "This team will do really well this weekend at regional, guys like Jackson Kiziminski and Nathan LaMagna paired with Levi and a few others will score some big points for us," he said.

Wheeling Central's Alex Mihalovich is seeded second in the 500 freestyle (5:27.82) and third in the 200 freestyle (2:01.12). Brooke's Edgar Ryan is seeded fifth in the 200 IM and fifth in the 500 free, Dameon Rea is fourth in the 50 free, and Owen Haught is seeded fifth in the 100 free.

Starting at /week.