Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Women's Swimming team entered Saturday's dual meet on a high, having won two of their last three meets. They kept that momentum going in the pool as they took down Mountain East Conference (MEC) rival Fairmont State 107-83. As a team, the Cardinals took home seven first place finishes to move their record to 5-3 on the 2022-23 season.

The day began and ended with a pair of relay races and the first two wins of the day came in those races. It began with the team of Maria Jones,  Jade Miller, Olivia Moyer, and Marra Johnson swimming in the 200 Yard Medley Relay. The team would get the win with a time of 1:59.62 to start the day off in the right foot. The day's final relay was the 200 Yard freestyle relay as Caitlin Oltman, Meredith Mandal, and Gabby Baiano joined Jones in the pool. The day started the same way it had ended, with another Cardinals win. The team picked up a win with a time of 1:47.09 to seal the dual meet victory for the team. The individual racers saw just as much success as they continue preparing for the MEC Championships here in a few weeks.

Leading the way on the individual side of things was sophomore Jade Miller, who picked up a pair of wins on the day. Her first came in the bubth event of the day, the 200 Yard Individual Medley. The sophomore beat out four other racers with a time of 2:21.45 as she continues her strong season. Her second win of the night came six events later in the 200 Yard Backstroke. She swam a 2:16.04 and once again beat out of field of four racers. The other three wins of the night were split between three different Cardinals. Johnson picked up her second career collegiate win in the 200 Yard Breaststroke (2:37.84) and fellow Freshman Caitlin Oltman got her first home collegiate win in the 100 Yard Freestyle (57.23). The final win for the Cardinals was from Meredith Mandal, who won the 200 Yard Butterfly with a time of 2:21.45.

Other top performers in the individual swims included Maria Jones, who picked up her first collegiate second place finish. It came in the 50 Yard Freestyle, where she swam a 27.83 to round out her day. After competing on the first winnning relay team of the day, Olivia Moyer would pick up two third place finishes in the 200 Yard Butterfly (2:32.35) and the 200 Yard Breaststroke (2:53.61). Liz Strange was the final Cardinal to take the pool, swimming in three races and finishing fourth in all three. Her best swim was in the 200 Yard Freestyle, where she swam a 2:35.95 to get her day started. It was a big win for the team as they come down the stretch towards the MEC Championships, and they have one more swim ahead until the big event.

The Wheeling University Women's Swimming team is back in the pool on Saturday, January 28th, where they will honor senior Meredith Mandal on senior day.