The meet will conclude on Saturday inside Brooke High School, beginning at noon.

Heading into Saturday, Wheeling Central leads the girls 1A-3A race with a six-point lead over Barnesville. Linsly is running away with the girls 4A race, and is the overall leader with 73 team points. St. Clairsville is a distant second in 4A. Wheeling Park has the narrowest of margins atop 5A, with 49 team points, one point ahead of Morgantown and John Marshall, who are tied for second.

Steubenville Catholic leads the boys 1A-3A race, with Barnesville once again in the silver slot so far. Linsly is the overall team leader and holds a 12.5-point lead in 4A over second-place Beaver Local. Morgantown holds the advantage in 5A at the midway mark of the meet, with Wheeling Park in second.

There were 10 events held Friday, with winners from 1A-3A, 4A, and 5A coming out of each.

The Linsly Cadets finished Friday with the most first-place finishes across all classes, with six winners in 4A.

The Cadets’ 200-yard medley relay squads, both their girls team of Maria Maldonado Escalona, Adriana Lopez Alonso, Bella Lombard and Irene Marzo Grana, and their boys team of Pablo Hernandez, Sebastian Jayakumar, Kolson Ludolph and Jalen Wong both claimed gold. Cassie Merinar finished first in the girls 200-yard freestyle, Pable Hernandez did the same in the boys event, Adriana Lopez Alonso took first place in the girls 200-yard individual medley, and Maria Maldonado Escalona sped to a first-place finish in the girls 50-yard freestyle.

“Our kids, from top to bottom,have performed above my expectations,” Linsly swim coach Jim Merinar said. “They swam really hard. They dug hard for extra time, extra places. A lot of hard work paying off right now. I just hope we can keep it up tomorrow.”

Barnesville had a trio of first-place finishes in Class 1A-3A– their girls 200-yard medley relay, composed of Leia Grear, Liv McCrate, Bonita Passmore, and Kierra Phillips; their boys 200-yard medley relay team of Jack Carpenter, Antoni Schuerle, Maddox Whaley and Mason Starr; and Schuerle in the boys 200-yard individual medley as well.

“All of my swimmers came to do a job and they’re doing their job,” Barnesville head coach Danielle Anderson said. “They have been dropping time like crazy today and they’re off to a great start and hopefully we can carry it into tomorrow.”

The John Marshall Monarchs had two first-place finishes in 5A, with both their girls and boys 200-yard medley relay teams finishing first. The girls team of Adah Aubrey, Sarah Hess, Seanna Leyland and Ella Finley got the job done, as did the boys team of Evan Harrison, Wyatt Jefferson, Dalton Brown and Brodie Baker.

“Very pleased,” John Marshall swim coach Timmi Snider said. “We’re sitting in a really good place. My medleys, both the girls 200 medley and the boys 200 medley– extremely pleased. Some good swims tomorrow. Looking for even better swims with Wyatt Jefferson in the breaststroke for the boys and Zoe Zervos in the 100 free, my 400 medleys should move up, I think, from where it was seeded. I’m looking for two first places in the 200-free.”

The Steubenville Catholic Crusaders likewise had two gold-medal winners from the 1A-3A class, with Javier Descalzo winning the boys 50-yard freestyle and Marcus Poulin winning the boys 100-yard butterfly.

Indian Creek, Wheeling Central, Brooke and Wheeling Park all had single first-place finishers Friday.

Creek’s Hunter Rusnak won the boys 50-yard freestyle in 4A; the Maroon Knights’ Alex Mihalovich placed first in the boys 200-yard freestyle in 1A-3A; the Patriots’ Molly George claimed first in the 5A girls 100-yard butterfly; the Bruins’ Faith Farrell was first in the 5A girls 50-yard freestyle.

“I’m happy with it,” Wheeling Park swim coach Mike Cook said of his team’s day. “We started out really good, guys and girls. Girls and guys both dropped a bunch of time. We got a really good start. Hopefully we can come back and catch on fire again tomorrow. because this was just a great start for us today.”

Wheeling Park’s boys and John Marshall’s girls won 5A championships last year.

2026 Championship

Team Rankings

Through Event 10

GIRLS

1A-3A Division

1. Wheeling Central 48

2. Barnesville 42

3. Columbiana 38

4. Martins Ferry 32

5. United Local 18

6. Steubenville Cath 8

4A Division

1. Linsly 73

2. St Clairsville 47

3. Beaver Local 43

4. Indian Creek 21

5. Weir 17

6. Edison 13

7. Oak Glen 4

7. Union Local 4

5A Division

1. Wheeling Park 49

2. Morgantown 48

2. John Marshall 48

4. Brooke 25

5. University 22

6. Warren 16

7. Steubenville 8

8. Marietta 6

BOYS

1A-3A Division

1. Steubenville Cath 48

2. Barnesville 41

3. Columbiana 19

4. Martins Ferry 15

4. Wheeling Central 15

4A Division

1. Linsly 66

2. Beaver Local 52.50

3. East Liverpool 31

4. Edison 16.50

5. Oak Glen 15

6. Indian Creek 13

7. St Clairsville 12

8. Union Local 9

9. Cambridge 2

10. Weir 1

5A Division

1. Morgantown 53

2. Wheeling Park 44

3. Warren High 40

3. John Marshall 40

5. University 17

6. Marietta 11

7. Steubenville 9

8. Brooke 6