Pittsburgh, PA. – During the rebuilding of the Wheeling University Women's Swimming program, the Cardinals have been trying to get back to the championship level the program once had. On Friday, the Cardinals got another step closer to that goal winning their sixth straight meet with a tri-meet sweep at Chatham University. They defeated Chatham 118-87 and beat Bethany 125-58 to move to 6-1 on the season, their best start since the team went 10-2 during the 2014-2015 season.
While no official times have been reported due to technical difficulties with the timing laptop at Chatham, the Cardinals were able to pick up nine event wins on the night. The day was started and ended with the relay teams as the event hosted a pair of long distance relays. Up first was the 400-Yard Medley Relay with Mara Johnson,
Gabby Baiano,
Jade Miller, and
Grace Moorley picking up the win. In the final event of the day, it was the 400-Yard Freestyle Relay as the Cardinals looked to cap off their strong showing. This group consisted of Moorley, Miller,
Olivia Moyer, and
Caitlin Oltman as the team rounded out the day.
The other seven wins on the night were picked up from six different women on the night. It started with
Maria Jones competing in the 1000 Yard Freestyle for the first time in her career. She would pick up her first collegiate individual win in the event as she tackled the long distance event for the first time in her career. The Cardinal's lead long distance swimmer,
Gabby Baiano, would be up next in the 200-Yard Freestyle as she picked up her win in the short yardage events. She would be the lone multi-event winner for the Cardinals, taking the final win in the 100-Yard Butterfly.
Jade Miller was next in the 100-Yard Freestyle and she secured her lone win of the day as she continues to add to her gold medal streak.
Sofia Castillo was up next as she won the 50-Yard Freestyle and
Marra Johnson added her individual win in the 100-Yard Breaststroke. The final individual win of the night came from sophomore
Olivia Moyer, who rounded out the wins with her first collegiate win. It came in the 200-Yard Individual Medley as she won the event for the first time in her career to round out the day. The Cardinals are off to their best start since the 2014-2015 season and are currently four wins away from tying the single-season meet record of 10.
The Wheeling University Women's Swimming team returns to action on Saturday, November 11th when they swim an MEC tri-meet against Notre Dame College and Davis & Elkins.
