The Buckhannon-Upshur girls finished second in the meet and qualified four individuals and two relays.

B-U freshman Cameron Zuliani captured the regional title with the state’s top qualifying time of 25.21 in the 50-yard freestyle. Zuliani nearly broke the regional record set by Elkins’ Samantha Hall in 2015 (24.67).

She also qualified in the 100 butterfly, placing second in a time of 1:01.03.

Other Lady Buc qualifiers included sophomore McKenzie Reynolds in the 50 freestyle (27.69) and 100 freestyle (1:02.75), junior Jenny Williams in the 100 breaststroke (1:17.19) and 200 IM (2:39.39) and junior Merrody Malone in the 100 butterfly (1:13.23).

The Inter-Mountain photo by Tony Baisi Members of an Elkins High School boys relay look on during Saturday’s Region III championships at West Virginia Wesleyan College.

Williams placed third in the 100 breaststroke.

B-U’s relay teams that qualified for states included the second-place 200 freestyle (freshman Johnna Smith, Williams, Reynolds and Zuliani) in a time of 1:49.35 and the 400 freestyle relay (Malone, senior Iris Kolenich, Smith and Reynolds) in a time of 4:22.88, which earned the unit a wild-card spot.

Elkins, meanwhile, had two individuals and two relays advance to states.

Sophomore Hannah Phillips earned a state spot in the 500 freestyle (6:10.42) by placing second and earned a wild-card spot at states in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:17.84, while freshman Isabelle Judy qualified for a wild-card spot in the 100 butterfly (1:08.03) and placed second in the 200 IM (2:31.02) to garner an automatic spot.

The Lady Tigers’ 200 medley relay team of senior Mara Looney-Sanders, Phillips, Judy and sophomore Addie Berdine placed second in regionals in a time of 2:08.67 to earn a state spot, while the 400 freestyle relay (Judy, freshman Kaleigh Edwards, Looney-Sanders and Phillips) was runner-ups with an effort of 4:15.53.

Zuliani

Bridgeport captured the regional team title with 189 points, followed by B-U (73), Elkins (69), Robert C. Byrd (45), Woodrow Wilson (41), Notre Dame (38), PikeView (30), Philip Barbour (17) and Grafton (9).

In the boys meet, Elkins qualified two individuals and a relay team en route to a third-place showing.

Junior Elijah Jones qualified in the 100 butterfly (1:03.59) with a third-place showing and Austin Whetsell in the 200 IM (2:29.80), placing fifth and earning a wild-card spot.

The Tigers’ 400 freestyle relay of sophomore Tyler Ludwig, Whetsell, freshman Luke Anger and senior Orrin Jones earned a state spot by placing fourth in a time of 1:4.68.

B-U’s individual qualifiers included sophomore Sam Squires in the 50 freestyle (23.78) and 100 breaststroke (1:07.66), junior Will Sparks in the 100 backstroke (1:06.63) and senior Drew Griffith in the 100 butterfly (1:03.70).

The foursome of junior Dane Ammons, Squires, Griffith and Sparks also qualified by placing second in the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:53.02.

For Philip Barbour, senior Gabriel Arevolo placed second in both the 50 freestyle (23.42) and 100 freestyle (53.05) to qualify for states.

Bridgeport captured the team title with 173 points to easily outdistance RCB (74).

Elkins was third with 63 points, followed by B-U (47) and Notre Dame (47), PikeView (31), Grafton (21), Philip Barbour (15), Riverside (12) and Woodrow Wilson (10).

The state meet will be held Feb. 14-15 at the West Virginia University Natatorium.