Wheeling, W. Va. - The last time the Wheeling University Men's and Women's Swimming teams were at home was on February 4th, 2017, in a duals meet with West Virginia University Institute of Technology. However, the Cardinals will swim at home once again on Saturday when they get set to host Bethany College on Saturday at 11 AM in the Alma Grace McDonough Natatorium.
The Cardinals welcomed home their swimming alumni last weekend, and are just two weeks removed from competing in the Malone Relays on October 16th. The Men's team swam at the meet, but because they only had two swimmers, there were no results on the men's side. However, the women competed and placed eighth at the event. However, they had some strong relay efforts throughout the night as they competed against some of the top teams in both the Great Midwest American Conference (GMAC) and the Mountain East Conference (MEC).
Their best performance of the day came in the Women's 400-yard medley, where they took fifth place with a time of 4:27.79. The team of Jade Miller, Meredith Mandal, Macie Williams, and Logan Fields combined for the team's best time of the day and highest finish on the leaderboard. Wheeling competed in five other relays throughout the afternoon, scoring a pair of eighth-place finishes, a sixth-place finish, a ninth-place finish, and an 11th-place finish to go along with their fifth-place time.
The Men's team, consisting of sophomore Ethan Banks and Freshman Nathan Yost, competed in four different events on the day, but because they didn't have enough swimmers, no times were posted. They raced in the 400-yard Freestyle Relay, 200-yard Freestyle Relay, 800-yard Freestyle Relay, and the 3x100 Yard Backstroke Relay. While they didn't post any official times, it was a chance for them to get some work in and see how they compare with some of the top swimmers in both conferences.
Saturday will mark the first home meet for Wheeling under Head Coach Danny Murphy, who took over the program last season. The swimmers are excited to be in their home pool and have a chance to compete in front of the Cardinal fans.
"We are super excited to swim at home on Saturday," said Murphy. "We have a young team, and for all of them it will be there first time swimming at home so we are excited to defend the nest. The Ohio Valley is a great place for swimming, and we are excited to bring the first dual meet to the Ohio Valley in some time."
The Match-up
The Wheeling University swim team matched up with Bethany one other time in team history when they met at a Neutral site in Fairmont State. Wheeling would come out on top in that meet 148-35 as they defeated the Bison. This will be the first meeting between the two teams in Wheeling and the first in the last three years. They hope to get their home slate against Bethany off to a strong start on Saturday.
The Details
Saturday's meet against Bethany is scheduled to begin at 11 AM, with pool warm-ups beginning at 9 AM. You can watch the meet live by clicking HERE.
