Wheeling, W. Va. - After opening their 2024-2025 schedule on Wednesday, the Wheeling University Men's and Women's Swimming team is right back in their home pool this weekend. They host Malone in their second home dual meet of the season with first swims beginning at 1 PM in the Alma Grace McDonough Center Natatorium. Both teams look to continue their momentum as they continue swimming towards the Malone Midseason Invitational in mid-November.

On Wednesday, the Cardinals officially opened the home portion of their 2024-2025 schedule, hosting a tri-meet against Washington & Jefferson and Salem Universities. It was a big day for both teams, with both earning sweeps of their days in the pool. On the women's side, the day was full of wins with the Cardinals winning nine of the 12 events on the day. The Cardinals relay teams picked up wins in both the 400-Yard Medley Relay and the 800-Yard Freestyle Relay, while five different Cardinals picked up six wins across the individual events. On the men's side, history was made once again and the Cardinals would pick up four individual wins by four different swimmers. It was their first sweep of the season as they continue through the non-conference portion of their schedule.

Leading the women for the second straight match was senior Jade Miller, who picked up two more wins for her ledger. She was the only Cardinal to finish with multiple wins on the day, taking home the gold in the 100-Yard Backstroke and the 400-Yard Individual Medley. Her biggest win of the day would come in the 400-Yard Individual Medley, where she swam a time of 4:58.10 to lead the field. Her second win would come in the 100-Yard Backstroke, when she swam a time of 1:02.65 to bring home her second gold medal on the day. Along with Miller, four other Cardinals would pick up gold medals with Lydie Sprecher (200 Free), Ana Noguera Munoz (50 Free), Gabby Baiano (100 Fly), and Sofia Gonzalez Bernal (100 Breast) each picking up wins on the day.

On the men's side, it was another historic day for Euan MacLeod as he continues to rewrite the Wheeling Men's Swimming Record books. He would swim in just one individual swim on the day, and took top marks in the 50-Yard Freestyle with a time of 21.37. It would set the new pool record, previously at 21.57, breaking the old record by .20 seconds. The Cardinals had two other individual winners on the day, with Gustav Lofqvist and Sarp Killic each picking up wins. Lofqvist would win the 100-Yard Freestyle with a time of 51.09 and Killic would win the 500-Yard Freestyle with a time of 5:08.42. A pair of relay wins in the 400-Yard Medley Relay and the 800-Yard Freestyle Relay would round out the first place finishes on the day.

Saturday will mark the first dual meet of the season for the Cardinals as they hit the final stretch towards the Midseason Invitational. They have five events left before the event, with four of those being dual meets. They start the run going against the team that will host the Midseason event in Malone, giving them an early look at one of the top teams they will face at the event. Both the men's and Women's Teams sit 3-1 entering the event and both are battling for the top spot in the MEC. As they head across these final five first-half events, the Cardinals look to keep making history and lower their times with each race they swim.

The Matchups

The Cardinals and Pioneers will be meeting for the fifth time in program history on Saturday, and the first time since the 2016-2017 season. Wheeling University leads the all-time Women's series at 4-0 and the men's series is tied at two wins apiece. It will be just the second time that the teams have met in the Alma Grace McDonough Center Natatorium, with the Cardinal teams earning a sweep on that day. 

That meeting came on January 20th, 2017 in an event that the Men won 101.5-97.5 and the women won 112-91. Former Cardinal Kristin Beyerl led the women with wins in the 200 Free and 500 Free, while former Cardinal Farida Yahia won the 200 IM and the 200 Breaststroke. For the men, former Cardinal Tomas Caixeta won the 50 and the 100 Free to round out the day.

The Details

Saturday's dual meet is scheduled for 1 PM inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center Natatorium. First swims begin at 1 PM and you can watch the meet live by clicking HERE.