Canton, OH. – On Saturday, the 2024 Mountain East Conference (MEC) MEC/Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) Championships came to an end inside the C.T. Brannin Natatorium. It has been a strong week for the Wheeling University Women's Swimming team as they finished 6th overall in the field and 3rd among their MEC opponents with 500.50 Points. They finished the week with four individual MEC Champions, with their final championship coming on the final day.
That honor came in the first event of the night as
Gabby Baiano took on the 1650 Freestyle. It was an event she finished third in in the MEC a season ago, and this time she was out to claim the title. She was able to do just that, swimming a time of 17:55.57, as she finished 5th in the field and led all MEC Competition. She beat out Fairmont State's Mia Abruzzino for the title as she took home her team leading second MEC Championship of the event. The final All-MEC honor came two events later in the Women's 200-Yard Backstroke.
Jade Miller would compete in the B Finals of the event, and won her final with a time of 2:11.82, earning her Second Team All-MEC honors. She would finish second to Frostburg State's Lydia Nebiolo, who qualified for the A Final earlier in the day to earn the title.
Two other Cardinals to compete in the finals were
Grace Moorley and
Marra Johnson as they rounded out strong weeks. Moorley was up first, swimming in the C Finals of the 100-Yard Freestyle and finished 18th overall and 6th amongst MEC competition with a time of 54.60. Johnson would be featured in the very next event, taking on the B Final of the 200-Yard Breaststroke. She just missed out on an All-MEC honor, taking ninth overall and fourth in the conference with a time of 2:33.52. The final event of the nightcap was the Women's 400-Yard Freestyle Relay with
Caitlin Oltman, Baiano, Johnson, and Moorley competing. The foursome would take seventh overall and fourth in the conference with a time of 3:45.93 to round out the event.
In the morning, the 100-Yard Freestyle followed the 1650 Freestyle and
Sofia Castillo,
Caitlin Oltman,
Maria Jones, and
Chelsea McIntosh all competed. Castillo would take 28th (56.29), Oltman took 29th (56.46), Jones took 39th (59.90), and McIntosh finished 41st (1:01.31). In the 200-Yard Backstroke,
Olivia Moyer would finish as an alternate, taking 25th with a time of 2:23.50 and
Elizabeth Strange would finish 31st at 2:34.04 to round out the day.
The Wheeling University Women's Swimming team now heads into the off-season as they prepare for 2024-2025.
