MONONGALIA COUNTY, W.Va (WBOY) – The WVSSAC State Swim Meet kicked off Thursday morning with the first preliminary session setting the stage for the first set of event finals in the evening.

North central West Virginia athletes claimed titles in four of those events as local teams placed swimmers in the top six in all 12 events.

Buckhannon-Upshur’s Preston Bennett put the first one on the board for the Bucs, taking the 200-yard freestyle in 1:42.81, shaving nearly six seconds off of his qualifying time.

Bennett’s teammate Cadence Vincent continued to prove that she is one of the best swimmers the state has ever seen, claiming both the 50 and 100 freestyle titles.

She set the state mark in each of those races with the 50 record coming in the prelims and the 100 in the finals.

In addition, each of those times qualified her for All-American status.

Isaac Anger finished out the first-place success for local athletes with a win in the 50 freestyle.

The state swim meet returns to action Friday morning with the second set of preliminaries at 9:30, followed by the finals at 4:45.