Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Women's Swimming team swam in just their second home event since the program was re-instated in Friday night. The Cardinals gave their home fans something to cheer aboyt as they defeated Salem 116-90. The Cardinals had eight wins in their 13 events with many hitting their same times from the conference championships last season.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was a pair of strong performances from Jade Miller and Gabby Baiano. Baiano picked up two wins on the night for her team, swimming in the long-distance events in the 1000 Yard and 500 Yard Freestyle. Her first swim of the day came in the 1000 Yard as she went against one teammate and one Tiger. Baiano win the event with a time of 11:24.10, swimming the event for the second time this season. She ended with the 500 Yard Freestyle, and once again picked up a win with a time of 5:41.32. Miller going her success in the short game with wins in the 100 Yard Fly, 200 Yard Backstroke and 200 Yard Breaststroke. She began the day in the 100-Yard Fly and swam a 1:00.58 to start strong. She finished with the 209 Yard Events with times of 2:10.53 and 2:37.67 to round out her day.
The other three wins for the Cardinals came in events 13, 15, and 17 secret Cardinals took three races in a row. Marra Johnson was up first in the 400 Yard Individual Medley going one on one against Salem. After trailing early in the race, Johnson was able to fight back and edge out her competition with a time of 5:11.09. Meredith Mandal was up next in the 200-Yard Fly as she also had a head-to head match. She pulled away from her competition, swimming a 2:20.61 And finished two seconds ahead of her opponent. Caitlin Oltman ended the run in the 100 Yard Freestyle where she competed against five swimmers, including two teammates. She was able to pick up the win at 56.54 to grab Wheeling's final win of the night.
The Cardinals ended their meet with the 800-Yarf Freestyle Relay as Miller, Mandal, Baiano, and Oltman teamed up. The foursome was able to take second in the event, swimming an 8:33.74 to round out what was a strong night for the Cardinals. It was a strong showing for Wheeling as they swam some of their best times since the conference championship last season. With the big mid-season Oberlin meet coming up next week, Wheeling looks to take their successes from this dual meet and bring them center stage as they compete with some of the best competition that the region has to offer.
The Wheeling University Women's Swim team takes the pool again on Thursday, November 17th when they swim in the Oberlin College Invitational.
