Wheeling, W. Va. - After a two-year hiatus and a COVID-shortened season, the Wheeling University Swimming program was revitalized last season when they competed in their first full season of competition since 2016-17. It was a young group overall, with only two swimmers in either their junior or senior year, as they tried to rebuild the program to its former glory. They look to take another step towards that goal in 2022-23 and, on Friday, released their schedule featuring nine different meets leading up to the 2023 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Championships.
With most of last year's roster returning for the 2022-23 season, and a plethora of fresh faces coming in, the program continues to grow its roster to become more competitive at meets. On the women's side, Jade Miller returns to lead the way after winning the program's lone MEC Championship last season. She has already swam her way into the Wheeling record books and looks to build on her success. On the men's side, Ethan Banks returns for his junior season and will be looked at as a leader for the Cardinals. He was the team's top long-distance swimmer a year ago and looks to continue his success into the 2022-23 season.
The year begins on October 1st with the annual Alumni/Intrasquad scrimmage inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center Natatorium. Two weeks later, the team hits the road for their first official meet of the season at the West Virginia State Games. It will be a two-day event held at the Mylan Park Aquatics Center in Morgantown, West Virginia and will see competition from all three levels of the NCAA. It will be a good test to see where the young Cardinals are as they begin the run towards the MEC/GMAC Championship. After hosting just one home meet last season, the Cardinals will then begin a heavy home slate that includes five different invitationals.
The home slate begins on October 21st when the team hosts Chatham and continues the next day when the Cardinals welcome in West Virginia Wesleyan. Those two events will be just the second and third home event hosted by the team since the 2016-17 season as they welcome swimming back to campus. They end October with a short trip to nearby Bethany for a dual meet. They wrap up the 2022 portion of their schedule on November 11th and 12th when they host Salem for a two-day dual event on November 11th and 12th and a three-day event at Oberlin College from November 17th to the 19th. With three of their five home events happening in the 2022 portion of their schedule, there will be plenty of opportunity to see the Cardinals hit the pool.
After the holiday break, the Cardinals are back in the Alma Grace McDonough Center Natatorium for a pair of invitationals. They host Frostburg State in a home dual meet on January 14th and come back the following weekend for a tri-meet against Fairmont State and Alderson Broaddus. It all leads up to the 2023 MEC/GMAC Conference Championships, running from February 8th to February 11th, 2023. The Cardinals will look to build off last year's success and bring home some more individual awards this coming season.
The Wheeling University Men's and Women's Swimming teams begin their season on Friday October 14th when they head to day one of the West Virginia State Games in Morgantown, West Virginia.
