Wheeling, W. Va. – Last weekend, the Wheeling University Men's and Women's Swimming teams kicked off Mountain East Conference (MEC) play with their first Tri-meet of the season. They continue their run towards the mid-season meet at Malone University when they play a split weekend of non-conference action. They kick things off with a road tri-meet on Friday, October 20th, when they take on Washington & Jefferson and Allegheny College in Washington, PA., before returning to the Alma Grace McDonough Center Natatorium on Saturday for a dual meet against West Virginia Tech.
On Saturday, both teams would end up with a split of the days events, with both teams falling to Frostburg State and earning wins over West Virginia Wesleyan. After a strong season in conference play a year ago, that saw them finish fourth overall, the women's team jumped right back into conference play with a splash. They ended up splitting the trip meet, defeating West Virginia Wesleyan 140-41 while falling to Frostburg State 128-75. The women grabbed four gold medals on the day and opened conference play at 1-1. On the men's side, it was a historic day as the team picked up their first MEC win in program history while splitting the event. The men had three gold medal winners and are off to their best start in conference play since joining the MEC at 1-1.
It was the men's program that would receive conference recognition as sophomore Quintin Tayali took home the MEC's Male Swimmer of the Week award, presented by The Healthplan, for his efforts. Tayali would take home two of the Cardinal's three first place finishes coming in both the 50 & 100-Yard Freestyle. His first event of the day would be that 50-Yard Freestyle, as he made his collegiate debut with a win, swimming a time of 22.17. Six events later, he was back in the pool for the 100-Yard Freestyle and picked up what would be his second win with a time of 48.54. The final gold medal came courtesy of Jiwh Santos in the 100-Yard Backstroke as he swam a 55.75 to claim the title. With the first ever conference win under their belt, the Cardinals are looking to use that momentum to continue to carry them throughout the season.
On the women's side, the Cardinals also had a swimmer make a splash in what was their collegiate debut. Freshman Grace Moorley picked up her first collegiate win in the 200-Yard Freestyle, swimming the event in 2:04.15. After that, she came out in the 500-Yard Freestyle and would take home second place with a time of 5:36.87 to round out her day. Sophomore Gabby Baiano would pick up her first gold medal of the season as well, winning the 500-Yard Freestyle with a time of 5:33.62, as she once again led the way in the long-distance events. The final two wins on the afternoon came courtesy of junior Jade Miller, who won both the 200-Yard Individual Medley and the 100-Yard Backstroke. She beat out MEC Rival Kendall Hooper from Frostburg State in the 200 IM (2:17.87) and defended her 2022 MEC Championship in the 100 Backstroke (1:00.93).
After a weekend full of MEC action a week ago, the team switches gears as they take on a non-conference schedule this weekend. Of their remaining four swims before the midseason meet, three of those will come in non-conference action as the Cardinals look to continue to lower their times in the pool. They kick the weekend off with a tri-meet against a pair of NCAA DIII programs in Washington & Jefferson and Allegheny College on Friday, before returning home for their dual meet with West Virginia Tech on Saturday. It will give the Cardinals a chance to continue to lower their times in the pool and prepare to face off with some of the best swimmers in the conference. The first half of the season helps them build up their times, while the second half is a race for postseason play.
The Matchups
Washington & Jefferson: The Cardinals and Presidents will be meeting for the sixth time in program history as they swim in Friday's tri-meet. Wheeling leads the all-time series on the men's side, with a record of 5-0, while Washington & Jefferson leads the women's series at 3-2. It will be the first time that the two teams have swam against each other since the 2016-2017 season and their first meeting in Wheeling since the 2013-2014 season. In their last meeting, the men beat W&J 141-87 while the women fell 141-87. On the men's side, former Cardinals Tomas Caixeta and Lucas Rhodes each won two events to lead the way while former Cardinal Farida Yahia led the women in the 100-Yard Breaststroke.
Allegheny: The Cardinals and Gators will be meeting for the first time in program history when they swim against each other in Friday night's tri-meet. Friday's event will be the season debut for Allegheny College as both programs are coming off down years during the 2022-2023 season. The Women's Swimming team finished 1-7 overall and 1-3 in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play while the Men's program finished 2-6 overall and 2-2 in PAC play. The Cardinals look to welcome them to the all-time series on Friday with a big swim in Washington, PA.
West Virginia Tech: The Cardinals and Golden Bears are meeting for the second time in program history when they face each other in Saturday's tri-meet. West Virginia Tech leads both all-time series with identical 1-0 records against both the men's and women's programs. It will be the first time the two teams have met since February 4th, 2017, when the Cardinals played host to the Golden Bears. In that meet, former Cardinals Zach Hamm and Tomas Caixeta each picked up wins on the men's side while former Cardinal Anna Davis took a pair of wins on the Women's side.
The Details
The weekend kicks off with a tri-meet for the Wheeling Swimming teams as they take on Washington & Jefferson and Allegheny college with first events beginning around 5:15 PM. Follow along with wucardinals.com for updates and a full recap of the days events.
