Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Men's and Women's Swimming teams have been riding high over their first five swims of the season, with only three losses between the two teams. On Saturday, they return to Mountain East Conference (MEC) play with their final tune-up before the mid-season meet at Malone. The Cardinals head to Elkins, West Virginia as they take on Davis & Elkins and Notre Dame College in tri-meet action beginning at 1 PM.
The Cardinals took a week off last week, after going through a tough non-conference slate throughout October. The last time they took the pool was October 28th, as they swam at Chatham UniversjtFor a tri-meet with the host Cougars as well as Bethany. Both teams continued their success as they earned sweeos of the day to improve to 6-1 and 5-2 respectively through their seven games played. On the women's side, the Cardinals picked up nine wins on the day, two relay and seven individual wins as they won their fifth and sixth meets in a row. On the men's side, the Cardinals had one less win, picking up eight wins as they hit their best mark since the 2013-2014 season. Both teams are off to their hottest starts since the 2014 season as they continue towards the mid-season meet.
For the women, it was sophomore Gabby Baiano leading the way with two wins on the afternoon. She swam in both the 200-Yard Freestyle and the 100-Yard Butterfly as she picked up two wins for the second time this season. Both events came in her off events as she showed her versatility in the short distance events. Baiano usually sees action in the distance events, but was able to pick up much needed points for her team. The other six wins came from six different Cardinals, including a pair of first collegiate wins. Those collegiate firsts came from Maria Jones and Olivia Moyer who won the 1000-Yard Freestyle and the 200-Yard Individual Medley respectively.
On the men's side, it was another big day for Quintin Tayali as he continues to excel in the short distance events. He picked up multiple wins for the third time this season, both coming in the short distance field. His first win of the night was a pool record as he took on the 100-Yard Butterfly. While no official times have been reported due to a technical difficulty, it was determined that Tayali set the new Chatham University Pool record in the event. The junior also picked up a win in the 50-Yard Freestyle, as he won the event for the third time this season. The Cardinal's other multi-event winner was freshman Patrick Kirby, who won multiple events for the first time in his collegiate career. He won both the 100 and 200-Yard Freestyles as he rounded out his day.
With just one more meet remaining before the big midseason meet at Malone, the Cardinals have one more chance to lower their times in the first half. They have only taken on one MEC swim meet this season, and both teams went 1-1 at that event. With two more MEC opponents in their way this weekend, both teams look to climb the ladder and set themselves up for success against their conference adversaries. The mid-season meet will be set up a lot like the MEC/Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Championships in February. It will be the first chance for the Cardinals to see many of the swimmers they will see at that event in action. While there is still plenty of season to go, the Cardinals will be sizing up their competition for the stretch run.
The Matchups
Davis & Elkins: The Cardinals and Senators are meeting for the third time in program history on Saturday, and the first time since the 2013 season. Both the men's and women's program have identical 2-0 records against the Senators, with one home win and one away win each. The most recent meeting between the two teams was on January 26th, 2013, when Wheeling hosted the Senators and won 101-35. It was a day where records fell as three different relay pool record were set. On the women's side, the 800-Yard Freestyle Relay team set the new pool mark of 8:13.09 while the men's 800 Freestyle Relay team also toppled their record with a time of 7:11.64.
Notre Dame College: The Cardinals and Falcons are meeting for the fifth time in program history, with both Wheeling swim programs leading the all-time series with a record of 3-1 on both sides. However, since the rebirth of the program in 2020, Notre Dame College has a 1-0 record. This will be the second neutral site meeting between the two teams, with Notre Dame College getting the lome win in that series. The last meeting between the two teams came last season as Notre Damee College picked up wins of 172-67 and 185-26. On the Women's side, former Cardinal Meredith Mandal and Jade Miller each picked up wins, while Ethan Banks was the highest scoring Cardinal on the Men's side.
The Details
The Davis & Elkins tri-meet is scheduled to begin on at 1 PM on Saturday inside the George A. Myles Poo on the campus of Davis & Elkins University. Follow along at wucardinals.com all day long for a full recap of the day's events.
