Wheeling, W. Va. – As the 2023-2024 regular season winds down, the Wheeling University Men's Swimming team kicked off their final home stretch on Saturday in tri-meet action. The Cardinals honored their seniors in a mid-meet ceremony as they ended up splitting the day against Bethany and Hiram. Wheeling dropped their first matchup with the Terriers 148-110 before picking up a win over Bethany 173-18.
The day began with the 200-Yard Medley Relay and right off the bat the Cardinals would get into the win column. The team of Alberto Kofinke,
Jiwh Santos,
Nathan Yost, and
Patrick Kirby picked up the win with a time of 1:46.26. It would be the first of several wins for the team as they continued their individual success. Santos would be next in the win column, pulling out a come from behind win in the 200-Yard Freestyle. He would pull back in front over the final 25 yard stretch and put up a time of 1:51.43. It was the first of back-to-back wins as Alberto Kofinke picked up his first win of the day in the 50-Yard Backstroke with a time of 27.71. In the 12th event of the day it was time for the 200-Yard Butterfly and
Nathan Yost would get the win with a time of 2:14.59 while
Patrick Kirby placed second at 2:16.24.
Quintin Tayali was up next in the 50-Yard Freestyle for the fourth time this season, swimming a time of 22.51. It was the first of two straight wins for the sophomore as he came back and swam the 200-Yard Backstroke for the first time this season. He swam a time of 2:18.93 and
Alex Ferebee finished behind him in second at 2:22.16. Right before the break, Ferebee would break into the win column for the first time in his collegiate career in the 50-Yard Butterfly. He swam a time of 26.90 to pick up the win as the Cardinals headed into the break. The final win of the day came courtesy of Tayali, who picked up his team leading third win of the day in the 200 IM with a time of 2:05.02 and
Patrick Kirby finished right behind him at 2:08.86 to round out the day.
Aside from the wins in the pool the Cardinals also had several strong individual performances. Kirby would swim in the 1000 Yard Freestyle for the first time this season and swam a time of 11:11.75.
Nathan Yost would round out the top two finishers on the day, taking second in the 500-Yard Freestyle with a time of 5:23.73.
The Wheeling University Men's Swimming team returns to action on Saturday, February 3rd, when they host Penn State Behrend at 1 PM.
