2024 WV State Games
- October 4-5, 2024
- Morgantown, W. Va.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Day 1 Results
- Day 2 Results
- Diving Results
Courtesy: Marshall Athletics
DAY 1
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Marshall University Swimming and Diving team sits atop the West Virginia Games leaderboard with 719 points after day one on Friday in Morgantown, West Virginia, taking first place in six of the nine events.
The opening session was led by Grace Kelsheimer qualifying for the NCAA Diving Zones in the 3m Dive with a score of 291.08 to win the event.
“A strong showing from the group tonight. I thought Grace K’s performance was the highlight of the session, getting her NCAA Zone standard,” Herd Swimming and Diving Head Coach Ian Walsh said. “Saw several positive things in the pool. Kseniia (Luniushina) winning her first collegiate race in the 100 back and Eszter’s (Laban) 1000 were well swum races. Molly (Warner) and Audrey (West) executed their races really well and came away with two strong performances and winning their respective events.”
In addition to the six first-place finishes, The Herd captured three of the top five positions in six events including four of the top places in the 100 Breaststroke and 50 Freestyle.
MU swept the podium in the 100 Breaststroke with Audrey West (1:04.95) winning the event as Paige Banton (1:05.19) and Maddy Akin (1:05.27) took second and third, respectively.
Marshall’s other victories came from Kseniia Luniushina, Audrey West, Madeline Hart, Parker Lynch (1:44.40) in the 200 Medley Relay, Eszter Laban (10:20.84) in the 1000 Freestyle, Molly Warner (1:52.33) in the 200 Freestyle and Luniushina (56.55) in the 100 Backstroke.
“The back end of the session got away from us a bit. Tomorrow will be a good test for the women to see how they respond. WVU will be ready in the morning. We will need to be prepared for a tough final stretch.”
RESULTS
Team Leaderboard
1st Marshall (719 Points)
2nd West Virginia (674 Points)
3rd Wheeling (103 Points)
4th Fairmont (74 Points)
5th Salem (45 Points)
5th Davis & Elkins (45 Points)
7th West Virginia Wesleyan (5 Points)
8th Bethany (4 Points)
DAY 2
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Marshall University Swimming and Diving team won the 2024 West Virginia Games Championship on Saturday with 1,483 points, besting host WVU’s 1,410, in Morgantown.
Day two saw The Herd win six events, including Grace Kelsheimer qualifying for the NCAA Diving Zones in the 1m with a score of 294.15 and Molly Warner picking up a pair of wins in the 200 Individual Medley (2:07.68) and 200 Backstroke (2:03.46).
“I told our team that competitions like this are ones we can reflect on as you move throughout the season,” Herd Swimming and Diving Head Coach Ian Walsh said. “Our sport is measured on time and scores, and a lot of these athletes measure themselves on their best performances and look to achieve that every time they compete. However, when you get to championship meet, it is less about the times and more about simply racing and competing to get your hand on the wall. This was a great mental and physical rehearsal for what the end goal of our program is.”
Paige Banton won the 200 Breaststroke with a time of 2:21.61 as Marshall took five of the top six spots in the event with Jenna Bopp (2:22.82) in second, Maddy Akin (2:23.34) in third, Audrey West (2:23.73) in fourth and Eszter Laban (2:28.08) in sixth.
The 400 Medley Relay team of Kseniia Luniushina, Audrey West, Madeline Hart and Molly Warner started the day with a victory in a time of 3:50.34 as the team of Madeline Hart, Kseniia Luniushina, Mia McBride and Parker Lynch ended the event with a time of 1:35.83 to win the 200 Freestyle Relay.
“We have a special, gritty group of women. I am proud of all our freshmen and their ability to come in here and compete in this environment for their first collegiate competition,” Walsh said. “Grace had another banner day and got her second NCAA Zone standard on 1m. Molly had a phenomenal day, tripling the 200 Back, 500 Free, and 200 IM, winning the 200 Back and 200 IM. Paige had a gutsy performance in her 200 Breast, executing it really well.”
“Our training has just shifted, and we look forward to getting back into the rhythm of things Monday as we prepare for another road trip to Pittsburgh in two weeks.”
RESULTS
Team Leaderboard
1st Marshall (1,483 Points)
2nd West Virginia (1,410 Points)
3rd Wheeling (171 Points)
4th Fairmont (114 Points)
5th Davis & Elkin (85 Points)
6th Salem (69 Points)
7th West Virginia Wesleyan (8 Points)
8th Bethany (4 Points)
9th WVU Institute of Technology (2 Points)
Courtesy: WVU Sports
DAY 1
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams had a solid performance on the first night of the West Virginia State Games at The Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown on Friday.
The men’s swimming and diving team sits in first place with 894 points. The women’s swimming and diving team sits in second place behind Marshall with 674 points.
The 2024-25 season began with the relay team comprised of sophomores Delaney Cox and Victoria Kidney, redshirt sophomore Sofia Deste and senior Olivia Kraus placing second in the 200-yard medley relay with a final time of 1:45.83.
The men’s swimming and diving had three relay teams place in the top three of the 200 medley relay event. The Mountaineers were dominant in the men’s 1000-yard freestyle as senior William Mullen finished first with a final time of 9:21.80.
Sophomores Trevor Hudson and Parker Sterlitz placed second and third, respectively.
Redshirt senior Danny Berlitz picked up right where he left off in the 2023-24 season, winning two individual events. Berlitz placed first in the 200-yard freestyle, touching the wall at 1:39.82. He followed that victory up with a win in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing at 55.50.
In the diving well, three divers posted an NCAA Zone Diving Championships qualifying score. On the women’s 3-meter, Senior Sarah Krusinski finished second with 287.03 points. In the men’s 3-meter, freshman Levi Hellmann placed first with 327.90 points and sophomore Owen Recker placed second with 323.55.
West Virginia will wrap up the WV State Games on Saturday at 11 a.m. at The Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown.
DAY 2
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams finished competition at the WV State Games with the men’s team placing first and the women’s team placing second on Saturday at The Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown.
The men’s swimming and diving team was dominant in its first meet of the season, finishing with 1,709 points. The women’s swimming and diving team finished just behind Marshall with 1,410 points. The Thundering Herd earned 1,483 points.
The highlight of the day came in the diving well as two divers posted NCAA Zone Diving Championship qualifying scores on the 1-meter springboard. Senior Sarah Krusinski and sophomore Owen Recker each qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships after they qualified on the 3-meter springboard on Friday.
Krusinski placed second on the 1-meter with 286.80 points. Recker placed first on the 1-meter with 322.80 points.
The men’s swimming and diving team began the day in dominant style, with three relay teams finishing in the top three of the 400-yard medley relay. The women’s swimming and diving team placed a relay team in second place with a final time of 3:51.21.
Senior Braden Osborn was a major contributor for the Mountaineers, placing first in the men’s 100-yard butterfly (50.20). Osborn was also part of two relay teams that placed first in the 400-yard medley relay (3:19.99) and the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:22.57).
Sophomore Maddie Smutny had a dominant performance in the women’s 500-yard freestyle, touching the wall at 5:01.79 to place first for WVU.
West Virginia will return to action on Friday, October 18, in the team’s Alumni Meet at The Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown.
Full Women’s Results
- Marshall (1,483 points)
- West Virginia (1,410 points)
- Wheeling (171 points)
- Fairmont State (114 points)
- Davis & Elkins (85 points)
- Salem (69 points)
- West Virginia Wesleyan (8 points)
- Bethany (4 points)
- WVU Tech (2 points)
Full Men’s Results
- West Virginia (1,843 points)
- Fairmont State (315 points)
- Salem (305.50 points)
- Wheeling (255.50 points)
- WVU Tech (206 points)
- Davis & Elkins (200 points
- West Virginia Wesleyan (46 points)
