WVU Opens Season at W.Va. State Games
October 11, 2018 02:07 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University swimming and diving teams open the 2018-19 season at the West Virginia State Games, from Oct. 12-13, in Huntington, West Virginia.
Competition at Marshall's Frederick A. Fitch Natatorium begins with diving events at 4 p.m. ET on Friday, followed by swimming at 6 p.m. Saturday's sessions are set to start at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
"The opportunity to showcase all of the programs in the state was the reason we started this years ago," said WVU coach Vic Riggs, who enters his 12th season at the helm. "It gives us the opportunity to go down and see where we are, make adjustments from what training we've done, but really, for the staff and team to get in and compete for the first time."
The annual event features a competition between collegiate swimming and diving programs from across the state of West Virginia. Now in its eighth year, Marshall is set to host the two-day meet for the fourth time and first since 2016. WVU also has hosted the event four times, most recently in 2017.
WVU will be joined by six other teams at this year's meet: Davis & Elkins, Fairmont State, Marshall, Salem, WVU Tech and West Virginia Wesleyan.
The Mountaineer men's team has won the State Games in each of its seven seasons. The squad swept all 20 events at last year's event, which was held at the WVU Natatorium in Morgantown. The group tallied a team total of 1,899 points in the win. West Virginia Wesleyan finished second in the men's competition with 456 points.
For the women, WVU won 15 of 20 events at the State Games in 2017, good for its sixth victory in seven years. The Mountaineers earned a winning team score of 1,515, 253 points better than second-place Marshall (1,262.5).
West Virginia held its annual Gold-Blue Meet on Sept. 29, at the WVU Natatorium. For the second consecutive season, the Blue Team won by a combined score of 238.5-224.5. The men's Blue Team won, 120-85, while the women's Gold Team was victorious, 119.5-87.5.
Last season, WVU featured five NCAA qualifiers, two Big 12 champions and two honorable mention All-Americans. The Mountaineers also recorded a pair of second-place team finishes at the 2018 Big 12 Championship.
In all, 15 school records fell during the 2017-18 season, as well as five WVU Natatorium records.
Big 12 champions Jake Armstrong (100 breaststroke) and Tristen Di Sibio (200 breaststroke) qualified for the NCAA Championships, along with Morgan Bullock, Emma Harris and David Dixon. Armstrong and Bullock went on to claim honorable mention All-American recognition in the 100 breast and 200 butterfly, respectively, at the national meet.
All five NCAA qualifiers return to the team this season.
Additionally, six divers qualified for the Zone A Championships last year, including senior Julia Calcut, who earned finals appearances on 1- and 3-meter.
In all, the Mountaineer welcome 39 returners back to the two squads, as well as 17 newcomers.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUSwimDive on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Competition at Marshall's Frederick A. Fitch Natatorium begins with diving events at 4 p.m. ET on Friday, followed by swimming at 6 p.m. Saturday's sessions are set to start at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
"The opportunity to showcase all of the programs in the state was the reason we started this years ago," said WVU coach Vic Riggs, who enters his 12th season at the helm. "It gives us the opportunity to go down and see where we are, make adjustments from what training we've done, but really, for the staff and team to get in and compete for the first time."
The annual event features a competition between collegiate swimming and diving programs from across the state of West Virginia. Now in its eighth year, Marshall is set to host the two-day meet for the fourth time and first since 2016. WVU also has hosted the event four times, most recently in 2017.
WVU will be joined by six other teams at this year's meet: Davis & Elkins, Fairmont State, Marshall, Salem, WVU Tech and West Virginia Wesleyan.
The Mountaineer men's team has won the State Games in each of its seven seasons. The squad swept all 20 events at last year's event, which was held at the WVU Natatorium in Morgantown. The group tallied a team total of 1,899 points in the win. West Virginia Wesleyan finished second in the men's competition with 456 points.
For the women, WVU won 15 of 20 events at the State Games in 2017, good for its sixth victory in seven years. The Mountaineers earned a winning team score of 1,515, 253 points better than second-place Marshall (1,262.5).
West Virginia held its annual Gold-Blue Meet on Sept. 29, at the WVU Natatorium. For the second consecutive season, the Blue Team won by a combined score of 238.5-224.5. The men's Blue Team won, 120-85, while the women's Gold Team was victorious, 119.5-87.5.
Last season, WVU featured five NCAA qualifiers, two Big 12 champions and two honorable mention All-Americans. The Mountaineers also recorded a pair of second-place team finishes at the 2018 Big 12 Championship.
In all, 15 school records fell during the 2017-18 season, as well as five WVU Natatorium records.
Big 12 champions Jake Armstrong (100 breaststroke) and Tristen Di Sibio (200 breaststroke) qualified for the NCAA Championships, along with Morgan Bullock, Emma Harris and David Dixon. Armstrong and Bullock went on to claim honorable mention All-American recognition in the 100 breast and 200 butterfly, respectively, at the national meet.
All five NCAA qualifiers return to the team this season.
Additionally, six divers qualified for the Zone A Championships last year, including senior Julia Calcut, who earned finals appearances on 1- and 3-meter.
In all, the Mountaineer welcome 39 returners back to the two squads, as well as 17 newcomers.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUSwimDive on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
Breast
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Fly/IM
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Breast/IM
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Fly/Breast
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Breast
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