Wheeling, W. Va. - For the first time since the 2016-2017 athletic season, the Wheeling University Men's and Women's Swimming teams will compete in a full season. The new journey begins on Saturday when they head to Frostburg state for their first meet of the year, beginning at 1 PM. They got a taste of the Mountain East Conference (MEC) during the COVID shortened 2020-2021 season and are ready to dive headfirst into a full slate of meets.
Leading the way is Head Coach Danny Murphy, who is ready to get into his first full season as the Head Swimming Coach at Wheeling University. Murphy is excited to get his team back in the pool and get back to normal competition.
"I am very excited to begin the first full season since the reinstatement of our program," said Murphy. "We will be competing against a great group of conference and regional foes that will give our athletes the opportunity to race some quality opponents while preparing for the MEC/GMAC Championships."
On the men's side of the field, sophomore Ethan Banks returns coming off being the team's top scorer at the 2021 MEC/GMAC Championships. Banks competed in three different events at last year's championships and was the top scorer for the Cardinals. He started his day with the 500-yard freestyle and finished 13th with a time of 5:01.43, dropping his time by four seconds from the preliminaries. He also finished top-20 in both the 200-yard freestyle (1:52.27) and 19th in the 200-yard backstroke (2:06.62) to round out his day.
On the women's side, they will be led by senior Beth Pharo, who also competed in three different events at last year's MEC/GMAC Championships. Her best performance came in the Women's 100-yard Breaststroke, where she placed 33rd with a time of 1:45.37. She also competed in the women's 50-yard freestyle and the women's 100-yard freestyle and picked up 38th place finishes in each of those events.
This season, the Swimming team will have a schedule of seven meets beginning tomorrow and running through January 29th, 2022. The season wraps up with the MEC/GMACC Championships, which will be held from February 16th - February 20th.
The Match-up
Saturday will mark the first time that Wheeling has traveled to Frostburg State in the team's history. It will also be their first swim meet since they took the pool at the MEC/GMACC Championships back on April 2nd. This young team will look to show off their skills in the pool and get the Wheeling University Swimming program back on track after a short hiatus.
The Details
Saturday's meet is scheduled to begin at 1 PM in Frostburg, Maryland. You can watch the swim meet by clicking HERE.
