Jaden Welsh’s State Record Guides Parkersburg to Second-Straight West Virginia Girls Title

Photo Courtesy: SwimWV Twitter (@SwimWV)

The 2019 West Virginia Girls State Swimming Championships took place on Saturday, Feb. 16 at WVU’s Natatorium in Morgantown, W.Va.

Jaden Welsh’s record-breaking 100 breast, as well as the record-setting 4×50 medley relay, led Parkersburg to back-to-back team titles. They finished with 170 points ahead of Bridgeport (163) and Wheeling Park (143).

Click HERE for full results.

Top 5 Team Scores:

1. Parkersburg – 170
2. Bridgeport – 163
3. Wheeling Park – 143
4. Fairmont Senior – 108
5. Hurricane – 95

Parkersburg began their quest for the team title as the 4×50 medley relay of Mary Michael Strobl (29.38), Welsh (29.41), Grace Cox (25.87) and Emma Padden (25.86) began the meet with a win in 1:50.52, breaking the old state record of 1:50.84 set by George Washington in 2016. Second went to Wheeling Park (1:53.22) and Bridgeport (1:53.83) took third.

Shortly after helping her medley relay to a new state record, Cox dove back in the water to win the 200 free in 1:54.73. Wheeling Park’s Sarah Heilman (1:56.65) and Fairmont Senior’s Adriana Abruzzino (1:59.25) also broke two minutes.

Spring Valley’s Elin Sodersten cruised to first in the 200 IM, leading from start to finish with a final time of 2:06.46. Welsh raced to second in 2:12.55 while Bridgeport’s Olivia Urse finished third with a time of 2:14.26.

Wheeling Park’s Abby Turner splashed-and-dashed her way to the gold medal in the 50 free, stopping the clock in a swift 24.44. Silver went to University’s Jacqueline McCutchan in 24.57 while Bridgeport’s Cheyanne Rohde grabbed bronze in 24.74.

Cabell Midland’s Brooe Blom flew to the top of the podium in the 100 fly, touching the wall in 56.82 to win by nearly a full second. McCutchan again took second in 57.78 and Cox also snuck under the minute-marker in 58.36 for third.

Turner proved her sprint talent by adding the 100 free state title to match her 50 crown from earlier, racing to the wall in 52.90. Abruzzino (54.73) and Hurricane’s Isabella Hart (56.16) finished second and third, respectively.

Not too long after winning the 200 IM, Sodersten had another impressive performance by winning the 500 free by 18 seconds in a time of 5:08.25. Morgantown’s McKenna Moore was second in 5:26.06 while Blom took a close third in 5:26.07.

Bridgeport’s Maria Lacaria (26.80), Sarah Stallman (26.22), Darian Spencer (26.19) and Rohde (24.87) combined to win the 4×50 free relay in 1:44.08. Wheeling Park finished a close second in 1:44.22 while 1:44.92 was good enough for Fairmont Senior to place third.

After taking second in the 200 free, Heilman found herself on top of the podium in the 100 back by powering home in 58.98. Urse also was under 60 seconds in 59.16 for second while Charleston Catholic’s Mackenzie Layne wound up third in 1:01.55.

Welsh got her hands to the wall first in the 100 breast, touching in 1:05.79 to eclipse her own state record of 1:05.87 she set at this meet last year. Wheeling Park’s Jenna Bopp (1:06.92) and St. Joseph Central Catholic’s Bojena Gross (1:11.68) completed the top three finishers.

Parkersburg ended the meet the same way they started, as relay champions. The 4×100 free squad of Padden (58.12), Olivia Collett (57.49), Cox (53.24) and Welsh (54.43) won in 3:43.28 ahead of George Washington (3:49.34) and Bridgeport (3:51.95).

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