Central Catholic High School

WELLSBURG -- History was made Saturday afternoon inside the Brooke High School Wellness Center. The Maroon Knights -- for the first time in the school's illustrious athletic history -- brought home the top trophy from the OVAC Bill Brubaker Swim Championships. The girls team was crowned 1A-3A OVAC champions after it accumulated 127 points over the course of the 11-event meet. They were 36 points better than runner-up Barnesville. Central set the tone for the two-day meet Friday evening when it scored 48 points. But it wasted no time Saturday in firmly taking control of the meet Freshman Sarah Manning got things going when she won the 1A-3A championship in the 100 freestyle with a time of 1:00.67. The 500 freestyle followed and junior Ellie Manning claimed gold in the class with a 5:53.37 clocking. The Maroon victories kept coming in the 200 free relay. The quartet of Manning, Manning, Gracee Humpe and Ally Jefferson dropped more than five seconds from its seed time en route to posting a 1:48.30, which is a school record. That time not only won the class title, it was the best in the field for all divisions. Putting the finishing touches on the title was the same relay foursome, which won the class title in the 400 free relay with a time of 4:14.89. Humpe and freshman Caleigh Gamble both scored in the 100 breaststroke. Sophomore Maddie Kirchner also scored in multiple individual events to help the team to the title.