Central Catholic High School

WELLSBURG -- The Maroon Knight swim team put forth a very strong showing Saturday afternoon in the Division II, North Regional Swim Meet held at the Brooke High School Wellness Center. This marks the first season that the WVSSAC has split swimming into multiple divisions. When the state meet commences in Morgantown on Feb. 19, Central will be represented in 13 events and send 10 athletes to the meet. The delegation could grow as at-large qualifiers have not yet been announced. The top four in each event, at both regional meets held on Saturday, automatically advanced. In the team standings, the girls' squad finished second to Elkins with 96 points. The boys accumulated 49 points and finished third. Sophomore Gracee Humpe finished third in the 200 free and third in the 100 backstroke. Freshman Sarah Manning qualified third in the 200 individual medley . She was also third in the 100 freestyle. Junior Ally Jefferson was fourth in the 50 freestyle. Junior Ellie Manning was third in the 100 fly and runner-up in the 500 free. The elder Manning will be joined in the 500 free by Caleigh Gamble, who was fourth. Sophomore Maddie Kirchner was fourth in the 100 breaststroke. The Knights' 200 and 400 free relay teams of Manning, Humpe, Jefferson and Manning finished second in both races. Junior Alex Mihalovich will enter as a regional champion in both the 200 and 500 freestyles. He won the 200 in 1:53.53, which was eight seconds better than his nearest competitor. He touched the wall in the 500 free in 5:07.05, which was 39 seconds better than the runnerup. The boys 400 free relay team of Mihalovich, Dawson Huggins, Josh Perry and Jacob Perry finished third to punch its ticket.