Canton, OH. – Over the first two days of the 2023 Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC)/Mountain East Conference (MEC) the Wheeling University Women's Swimming team has been battling for an MEC individual champion. On Thursday night, they brought home that first champion in the 100 Yard Backstroke and added a pair of All-MEC honorees to their list. Sophomore Jade Miller would be the one to bring home the individual championship, claiming the second individual title of her career.

Last season, Miller claimed the MEC Championship in the 200 Yard Backstroke last yearand was out to claim her first title this year. She began in the morning's prelims, where she qualified for the A Final with a time of 1:00.39. She would be swimming against Frostburg State's Liz Perry for the MEC Championship and she would respond.  She set a new PR with a time of 59.22 to claim the MEC Championship for the second year in a row. Miller would finish 6th overall in the field, the highest overall finish for the Cardinals in the tournament. It was also Miller's third All-MEC honor as she took home First Team All-MEC honors for the first time in the championship event, adding to her Second Team All-MEC (200 IM) and Honorable Mention All-MEC (400 IM).

Gabby Baiano was next, swimming in the finals for the third straight day as she took on the 500 Meter Freestyle. She would qualify for the B Finals of the event after swimming a 5:20.86 in the morning to start day three off strong. She would come back stronger in the finals, dropping her time by just over three seconds to finish 5:17.88 to claim 4th in the MEC (12th overall). The Cardinals would have two other fourth place finishes on the day, courtesy of Meredith Mandal and Marra Johnson. Mandal's would come in the 200 Yard Butterfly where she took home fourth in the MEC (13th overall) swimming a time of 2:20.35. Johnson would swim in the B Finals of the 100 Breaststroke. She would take 4th in the MEC (11th overall) with a time of 1:09?83. Olivia Moyer would be the final Cardinal to swim in the finals, competing in the C Final of the 200 Yard Breaststroke. She took 7th place in the MEC (18th overall) with a time of 2:28.33 as she swam in the second Finals event of the championship.

The relays were up next as the Women's 800 Meter Freestyle team would compete to round out day three of competition. They would bring home the second All-MEC award for a relay team as Baiano, Miller, Mandal, and Caitlin Oltman competed. The foursome would take home 2nd in the MEC (5th overall) with a time of 8:20.20 as the Cardinals debuted the relay team. The other big PR on the night came courtesy of Elizabeth Strange in the 200 Yard Butterfly during the morning's prelims. She just missed qualifying for the finals, finishing 28th overall with a time of 2:51.19. Maria Jones would finish as an alternate for the finals (26th overall) in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 1:07.85. Caitlin Oltman rounded out the day, swimming in the 500 Freestyle prelims and finished 27th overall with a time of 5:40.10.

The Wheeling University Women's Swimming team returns for the final day of the GMAC/MEC Championships on Friday with the prelims at 10 AM and the finals at 6 PM. You can watch the event live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Results by clicking HERE.