Wheeling, W. Va. - With their winter training trip wrapped up, the Wheeling University Women's Swimming teams have flown north for the winter as they wrap up the home portion of their regular season schedule. They welcome Fairmont State into the Alma Grace McDonough Center natatorium on Saturday as they return to Mountain East Conference (MEC) play with first swims beginning at 1 PM. The Cardinals will be honoring their class of seven seniors before the event, with Jade Miller, Maria Jones, Sofia Castillo, Ana Noguera Munoz, Elizabeth Strange, Alex Ferebee, Rua Karimazondo, and Nathan Yost all being honored before the event.
Last time out, the annual winter training trip came to an end when the Cardinal swim teams traveled to Lenoir-Rhyne. After training long course throughout the week, which is something the team isn't used to, the Cardinals hit the pool to battle a Bears team that was on the rise. The Cardinals competed throughout the afternoon, with several strong individual showings, but both teams would end up falling on the scoreboard. On the men's side, the Cardinals fell 136-47, while the women dropped a close 104-82 battle with the Bears. Between the two teams, the Cardinals finished with five first place finishes at the event, and were rewarded as they swept the weekly Mountain East Conference (MEC) Player of the Week awards following the event.
On the men's side, it was Euan MacLeod who took home the award, winning the award for the third time this season. While he wasn't able to pick up an individual gold on the day, the freshman continued to lead the way with a pair of silvers and a relay gold on the day. In his individual events, MacLeod was just .06 seconds away from a win, swimming a time of 21.97 seconds to take second place in the 50-Yard Freestyle. He would add another second place finish to teammate Sarp Killic in the 100-Yard Freestyle. MacLeod would also serve as the first leg of the winning 200-Yard Medley Relay team that would take home gold with a time of 1:40.42. Killic would pick up the other gold on the day for the Cardinals, beating out MacLeod in the 100-Yad Freestyle.
On the women's side, the award would go to Gabby Baiano, who had a big day picking up two of her team's three gold medal finishes. She once again showed her versatility, winning both the 500-Yard and 200-Yard Freestyle. The long distance events were up first as Baiano took on the 500-Yard Freestyle, taking the top spot by eight seconds with a time of 5:29.43. After a short break, Baiano came back in the 200-Yard Freestyle, and would pick up her second win of the day, swimming a time of 1:05.65. She would round out her day as the second leg of the 200-Yard Freestyle Relay, and was the fastest leg of the event, swimming a split of 27.20 seconds. She led the Cardinals to the win in the event to wrap up a big day in the pool. The other individual win for the Cardinals came from Lydie Sprecher won the 50-Yard Freestyle with a time 27.19 seconds.
As they head into their final home event of the year, the Cardinals are honoring a special senior class that has helped revitalize the Wheeling Swimming programs. When these eight swimmers joined the program, it was in the rebuilding phase, making its return to the Wheeling Athletics lineup for the first time since the 2016-17 season. Over the four years, both programs have grown immensely, with the Women winning back-to-back MEC Freshman of the Year awards and had the MEC Swimmer of the Year last season. On the men's side, the Cardinals have grown to their biggest roster since the rebuild, and were just named the #10 most improved program in NCAA DII thanks to SwimCloud. They look to continue to build on their legacies, with both teams competing for MEC Championships this season.
The Matchup
Men: The Cardinals and Falcons are meeting for the ninth time in program history on Saturday, with Fairmont State leading the all-time series at 5-3. The Cardinals have had success at home in the all-time series, going 2-1 in three previous meets, but the Cardinals will be looking to end a five-meet losing streak at the hands of the Falcons. The last time the two teams met was on January 20th, 2024, when Fairmont State beat Wheeling 112-77. Leading the way for the Cardinals was Patrick Kirby, who picked up a pair of wins in the 500-Yard Freestyle and the 200-Yard Freestyle.
Women: The Cardinals and Falcons are meeting for the ninth time in program history on Saturday, with Wheeling leading the all-time series at 6-2. The Cardinals are undefeated at home in the all-time matchup, going 3-0, but are looking to bounce back after falling in the most recent matchup. The teams last met on January 20th, in a meet that Fairmont State 107-92. They were led by Jade Miller, who picked up a pair of wins on the day in the 200-Yard Individual Medley and the 100-Yard Backstroke.
The Details
Saturday's meet is set to begin at 1 PM inside the Alma Grace Natatorium, with senior day festiviites beginning at 12:30 PM. You can watch the event live by clicking HERE.
