Wheeling, W. Va. – Friday night's meet was a surorise for the Wheeling University swimmers, but it was another chance for them to get into the pool. It turned out to be a big day for the Cardinals as they had a swimmer write their name in history in the team's 85-77 dual meet loss to Salem. Freshman Gabby Baiano finishes with the fourth fastest time in school history in the 1650 Yard Freestyle.

It was the second event of the night, and the first individual swim of the meet as the distance swimmers got started right away. Baiano was going one on one with Salem's Ivani Kamidol. The early portions of the race saw Baiano get out to a strong start and, by the halfway point she was sitting at just over nine minutes. It would come down to the final two laps of the race. She ended up missing the all-time mark by 12 seconds, but won the race with a time of 18:34.31. It was the first of two individual races for Baiano as she swam later in the 100 Yard Freestyle. She would cap off the day with a third place finish with a time of 1:04.06 as she started 2023 off on a string note.

The Cardinals had two other first place finishes on the night that complimented several second place finishes as well. Those two wins came in the 100 Yard Freestyle and the 100 Yard Breaststroke to close things out. Jade Miller was the second Cardinal to win on the day, swimming the 100 Used Freestyle in 56.74. It was Miller's only individual swim of the day as she prepared for the weekend. Meredith Mandal rounded out the meet in the 100 Yard Breaststroke. She beat out two Salem swimmers as well as one of her teammates with a time of 1:14.02. Her other individual swim came in the 100-Yard Butterfly, where she finished second with a time of 1:02.11. It capped off a strong meet for the two leaders of the Cardinals as they prepare for the Mountain East Conference (MEC( stretch run. 

Freshman Caitling Oltman did a mix between short and long-distance and took home two second place finishes. Her first came in the 50-Yard Freestyle, where she swam a 27.02 and she followed it up with a 5:48.83 in the 500 Yard Freestyle. Fellow freshman Marra Johnson swam in a team-high three individual events on the night. Her best event was in the 200-Yard Freestyle, where she took home second with a time of 2:08.22. Elizabeth Strange swam in two events on the night, and also took home a second place finish in the 100 Yard Backstroke, swimming a 1:13.47. Olivia Moyer made her Wheeling debut after transferring in this winter as she swam in both the 100 Breaststroke and the 200 IM and finished 4th and 3rd respectively. Maria Jones rounded out the night for the Cardinals swimming both the 50 Yard Freestyle and the 500 Yard Freestyle.

The Wheeling University Women's Swimming team returns to the pool Saturday for a Tri-Meet against Frostburg State and West Virginia Wesleyan. You can watch the meet live by clicking HERE.