Spartanburg, SC. – While the cold and the snow blew through Wheeling, West Virginia this past weekend, the Wheeling University Men's Swimming team was spending time down south for their Winter Training trip. They wrapped things up on Friday when they swam at a dual meet against Converse and Lenoir-Rhyne University, dropping both matchups 122-97 to Converse and 177-66 to Lenoir-Rhyne. It was a big day for freshman Patrick Kirby, who picked up his first career multi-win day to lead the way.

Kirby showed his versatility on the day, and kicked things off in the 18th event of the day, when he swam in the 100-Yard Freestyle. He would pick up the first of two wins on the day, swimming a 52.14 to beat out the rest of the field by .56 seconds. Not only did he have success in the short distance events, but he came back and showed his versatility in the long distance events as well. He would swim in the 500-Yard Freestyle six events later and picked up his second first place finish. He swam a time of 5:08.36, picking up his biggest win of the day by 5.44 seconds. Kirby would swim in two more races on the day, being the second leg of the 200-Yard Freestyle Relay and the fourth leg of the 200-Yard Medley Relay.

The Medley Relay would kick things off as Kirby, Jiwh Santos, Alex Ferebee, and Alberto Kofinke each took the pool. They finished fourth with a time of 1:47.49 to kick off the relay portion of the event. Kirby would join Kofinke, Santos, and Nate Yost to round out the day in the Freestyle Relay. It would be the final top five finish of the day for the team, as they took second with a time of 1:31.07. The other Cardinal win on the day came from Santos, who continued to be a leader for the team. He swam in the 50-Yard Freestyle, where he took home the gold with a time of 21.80 to finish out the wins. Santos would pick up one final top five finish in the 100-Yard Backstroke, taking second with a time of 54.51 as he rounded out a strong day.

The top five finishes would get started right away for the Cardinals as Yost got things started in the 200-Yard Freestyle. The junior took second with a time of 1:55.38 as he started his individual swims strong. Alberto Kofinke followed with a third place finish in the 50-Yard Backstroke (27.74) and Alex Ferebee followed him with a fourth place finish in the 50-Yard Breaststroke (31.42). Yost would pick up another top five finish in the 100-Yard Butterfly as he finished third with a time of 58.40. He would round out the day with his third top five finish in the 50-Yard Butterfly (25.40), while Ferebee rounded out the day with a fifth place finish in the 400-Yard Individual Medley (5:15.37).

The Wheeling University Men's Swimming team returns to action on Friday, January 12th, when they head to the Vulcan Invitational at 5 PM.