Wheeling, W. Va. - During the last week, the Wheeling University Men's and Women's Swimming teams have been down in Florida on their winter training trip. Before they make their way back up to Wheeling, the Cardinals will wrap up the trip with dual meet action as they take on Converse University and Lenoir-Rhyne on Friday at 5 PM. It will be the first Wheeling athletic event of the 2024 calendar year as the Cardinals look to build off their success in the pool from the first half of the season.

The last time the Cardinals took the pool was back on November 19th when they wrapped up the three-day Malone Invitational. The women would finish top five in the event for the second tournament in a row, taking fifth in the field, while the men finished eighth overall to round out their first half. The first day of competition featured most of the freestyle events and the 1650 Freestyle, with the Cardinals finishing top five to kick things off. Over the final two days, the Cardinals would pick up a combined two gold medals, including a few top 10 finishes on the men's side. It was an improvement over last season's mid-year invitational as the Cardinals continue to show growth in the pool.

Leading the way for the Cardinals was Jade Miller, who took home the Cardinal's two gold medal efforts in the event. The junior won both on the final day of competition, taking gold in the 200-Yard Individual Medley and the 200-Yard Backstroke. She won the IM in her first event of the day, swimming a time of 2:14.55 to beat the rest of the field by a full three seconds, and came back with a win in the backstroke with a time of 2:11.13. Gabby Baiano would be right behind Miller with three top five finishes during the event. Her top showing came on day two when she took second in the 200-Yard Freestyle with a time of 1:59.08. She would add a fifth-place finish in the 1650 Freestyle and a third-place finish in the 500-Yard Freestyle to round out the event.

On the men's side, Jiwh Santos and Quintin Tayali continued to lead the way for the Cardinal swimmers in the pool. Both pulled out historic finishes in the 50-Yard Freestyle, with Santos finishing top five in school history with a time of 21.42 while Tayali hit a top ten mark at 21.46 seconds. However, it was Tayali who would go highest in the record book, posting the fourth fastest time in school history in the 100-Yard Butterfly when he swam a 50.39. He was .50 seconds away from breaking the school record and continues to fly through the speed events this season. Santos would round out the historic effort when he finished in a tie for the eighth fastest time in program history with a time of 54.32.

As they enter the 2024 portion of their schedule, the race is on towards the 2024 MEC/Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Swimming & Diving Championships, beginning on February 14th. The Cardinals have five meets leading up to the championship event as they look to climb the ladder in the conference. At the holiday break, both teams were in the top half of the MEC, with the women sitting as the second highest scoring team with 519.10 points and the men sitting as the fourth highest scoring team with 487.25 points. The Cardinals will be looking to rack up as many points as possible during this final stretch as they prepare for their trip to Canton, Ohio

The Matchups

Lenoir-Rhyne: The Cardinals and Bears will be meeting for the first time in program history when they come together on Friday. On the men's side, Lenoir-Rhyne sits at 1-4 to start their season and is coming off a 7th place finish at their annual mid-season meet. On the women's side, the Bears are 2-4 through six meets and placed 10th in the annual midseason meet. The Cardinals are looking to pick up a win in the first-ever meeting as they put their hard work in the pool during the week into practice.

Converse: The Cardinals and Valkyries are also meeting for the first time in program history when they meet on Friday. The women's program is coming off a championship effort at their midseason meet, the GA Small College Championships and look to continue to build their momentum. At that same event, the men had two top ten finishes as Kirill Lyzhin took third in the 400 IM and Micah Lesley took second in the 1650 Freestyle.

The Details

Friday's dual meet event is scheduled for 5 PM inside the Montgomery Student Center on the campus of Converse University. Follow along with wucardinals.com for a complete recap of the day's events.