Wheeling, W. Va. – Last week, the Wheeling University Men's and Women's Swimming team opened the 2022-23 season at the West Virginia State Games. Now, the Cardinals are back out on the road as they are set for their first taste of Mountain East Conference (MEC) swimming action. On Friday, the Cardinals will hit the road for their first tri-meet of the year when they head to Salem University to take on the Tigers and Notre Dame College at 5 PM.
In their first outing, the team had some strong performances when they swam down at the Mylan Park Aquatic Center. Day 1 featured 17 events while Day 2 followed with 17 more events, including a total of 32 individual races swam. Day one saw the Cardinals freshmen shine as several swimmers were getting their first taste of collegiate swimming. While there was no team scoring at the event, the Cardinals picked up several top 20 finishes throughout the day as they began the season strong. On day two, the Cardinals would swim in 17 more events, including 15 individual races, as the upperclassmen took their time to shine to end the event.
For the women, sophomore Jade Miller picked up right where she left off in 2021-22, picking up top 20 finishes in all five races that she swam. However, her best performance was on day two of the event, when she placed eighth in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:41.17. She was the top Division II swimmer in the race at the event as she secured 11 points for her team. Freshmen Gabby Baiano took center stage on day one and started her collegiate career off with a bang. She took to the pool in the 1000-yard Freestyle and placed 12th with a time of 11:25.73. Baiano would finish in the top 15 in both long-distance races that she swam, taking home a 13th place finish in the 500 Yard Freestyle (5:32.92).
For the men, only one swimmer took the pool as sophomore Nathan Yose competed in five races across the two days of competition and finished with two top 25 finishes. His best performance of the weekend came on day one, when he placed 22nd in the 200-Yard Freestyle, posting a 1:57.11. His other top 25 finish came on day two, when he placed 24th in the 100 Yard Freestyle, with a time of 52.47 seconds. As the Cardinals return home, Yost looks to continue his early season success, while junior Ethan Banks and freshman Tadiwa Tayali look to take the pool for the first time.
With the 2022-23 season in full swing, the Cardinal's main goal is to start lowering their times in preparation for the MEC/Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) Championships in February. The Cardinals will feature a heavy road schedule to start the year, with their first three events all coming on the road, but make-up for it with two home events, one at the end of the 2022 portion of their schedule and one just before the MEC/GMAC Championship. With a small team on both sides of the field, the Cardinals are looking to lay the foundation as they continue to build the program for success for years to come.
The Matchups
Salem: The Cardinals and Tigers are meeting in meet competition for the second time in program history on Friday. On the women's side, the Tigers hold the all-time series advantage at 1-0 and it is a similar result on the men's side, with Salem holding a 1-0 record. The two teams met for the first time in program history last season when they met in Salem, West Virginia. On the men's side, Ethan Banks led the way with second and third place finishes and Jade Miller picked up three first place finishes for the Cardinals.
Notre Dame College: The Cardinals and Falcons will be meeting for the fourth time in program history with the Cardinals leading both sides of the all-time series with identical 3-0 records. However, this will be their first meeting since the 2014 season, before the swim hiatus. In that meeting, the men beat Notre Dame College 145-111, while the women picked up a 193-49 victory. Former Cardinal Vanessa Gipson led the way for the women in that meet, winning both her individual races, while former Cardinal Josh Remaniak led the men on the day.
The Details
Friday's Tri-Meet is scheduled to begin at 5 PM at the Salem Pool on the campus of Salem University. You can watch the meet live by clicking HERE.
