Wheeling, W. Va. – After opening their Mountain East Conference (MEC) schedule last time out, the Wheeling University Men's and Women's Swimming teams open their home slate Wednesday. They host their second Tri-Meet of the year when they take on Washington & Jefferson and Salem with first swims at 3 PM. It serves as the first of four home events for the team during the 2024-2025 seasons they continue to prepare for the Malone mid-season meet.
Last time out, the Cardinals took on a pair of MEC foes in Frostburg State and West Virginia Wesleyan. Both teams would end up splitting their days, but several big wins across the board paces both team's efforts. On the women's side, the Cardinals would spread five gold medals around, with three different individual swimmers bringing home the five titles. On the men's side, the team had three first place finishes, all coming from the same swimmer, and added a first place in the final relay event of the day. On the women's side, the Cardinals defeated West Virginia Wesleyan 174-54 and fell to Frostburg State 151-97. On the men's side, the splits were the same with the Cardinals beating Wesleyan 171-31 and falling to Frostburg State 155-93.
The biggest day in the pool came courtesy of Euan MacLeod, who helped rewrite the Wheeling Men's Swimming record books in just his second event of the season. He was the one to pick up all three individual wins for the Cardinals, including two top 10 times in school history. The top performance of the day for the freshman came in the 100-Yard Backstroke, where he swam the 7th fastest time in program history at 53.22. In his final individual swim of the day, MacLeod would put together the 10th fastest time in the 100-Yard Butterfly in school history, taking first with a time of 52.79 seconds. He would also earn wins in both the 50-Yard Freestyle as well as the final leg of the 200-Yard Medley Relay. For his efforts, MacLeod earned MEC Male Swimmer of the Week honors, marking the first major award of his collegiate career.
The Cardinals ended up sweeping the weekly swimming player of the week honors, with the Female Swimmer of the Week going to Jade Miller. Miller would pick up two individual wins on the day, as well as a win as a member of the Cardinal's 200-Yard Freestyle Relay team. Her fastest time of the day came in an event that she is very familiar with, the 200-Yard Individual Medley. Miller swam the event in 2:18.95, claiming the top spot by three seconds over the rest of the field. Her second win would come in the 200-Yard Breaststroke, where she again beat the field by three seconds. This time, she swam a 2:32.90 and claimed what was her first win of the day. Her final performance was as the final leg of the 200-Yard Freestyle Relay. She helped her team take third in the race, swimming a 26.52 to round out the event.
Wednesday's home meet is the first of back-to-back home meets that will see the Cardinals be in the Alma Grace McDonough Natatorium throughout the week. It is also the second of three Tri-Meet down the stretch run, and the only home Tri-Meet during the stretch. The Cardinals will be swimming in non-conference action in five of their final six first half meets leading up to the Malone Invitational and will look to use these meets to improve their times. After winning the first two conference swimmer of the week awards, the team is flying high and looking to keep the momentum going. They have already had some big performances through their first two events of the season and they are now looking to keep that success going in their home pool.
The Matchups
Washington & Jefferson: The Cardinals and Presidents are meeting for the seventh time in program history, with Wheeling leading the men's all-time series at 6-0 while the women are tied at three wins apiece. It is just the third time that the Presidents are making the trip to Wheeling, with the men going 2-0 in those matchups while the women are 1-1. It is the renewal of an old rivalry, with the teams meeting for just the second time since the Wheeling program was brought back in 2020. The two teams met in Washington, PA. A year ago on October 20th, with the men winning 138-114 and the women winning 143-101.
Salem: The Cardinals and Tigers are meeting for the fifth time in program history, with Salem leading both sides of the rivalry holding a 4-0 record against the men and 3-1 against the women. It is the third time that Salem is making the trip to Wheeling, with the women getting the lone win in the all-time series in their home pool. The two teams last met on January 13th, 2023, with the Wheeling men falling 135-16 while the Wheeling women dropped a close battle, falling 85-77.
The Details
First events for Wednesday's tri-meet are scheduled for 3 PM inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center Natatorium. You can watch the event live by clicking HERE.
