Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Women's Swimming team (9-3) honored a senior class that helped rebuild the program on Saturday. They welcome in Fairmont State in Mountain East Conference (MEC) dual meet action in what was their final regular season home meet. The Cardinals earned a big senior day win as they took down the Falcons 164-87.
It was the senior captain that led the way for the Cardinals, as team captain Jade Miller picked up three wins on the day. She started things off In one of her longer swims of the day, competing in the 200-yard backstroke. Miller earned the top spot with a time of 2:20.23, picking up a four second win to start the day. It was a quick turn around for the senior, who is back just two events later in the 200-yard breaststroke. Her margin of victory just got bigger, as she beat the field by six seconds swimming a time of 2:35.48. for her final event, Miller would go back to one of her top events swimming in the 400 yd individual medley. In what was her final home regular season swim, Miller capped off her home career with a win, Swimming a time of 5:04.18.
Miller was one of five seniors honored in a pregame ceremony, joining Maria Jones, Elizabeth Strange, Ana Noguera Munoz, and Sofia Castillo. The five some have been a big part of the revival of the Wheeling women's swimming program, and all five had strong showings throughout the day. Castillo join up with Miller to help the Cardinals win the 200 yard medley relay, with a time of 1:55.10, while also winning it for her team in the final 50-yard stretch of the 200 yard freestyle relay, leading her for some to a time of 1:44.90. Noguera would take second in the 100-Yard Backstroke (1:04.86), Strange took a pair of sixth place finishes in the 200 Backstroke (2:38.32) and the 200 Freestyle (2:32.00), while Jones ended up 5th in the 100 Backstroke (1:13.38) and 6th in the 50 Freestyle (29.40).
The final three win swimmer for the Cardinals was junior Gabby Baiano, who excelled in the long distance events. She would pick up the first individual win of the day for the team, taking on the 1000 Yard Freestyle. She got things started with a bang, swimming a time of 11:01.57 l, and picked up the largest individual win of the day, beating the field by 14 seconds. Her other long distance event on the day would come in the 500-Yard Freestyle, where she picked up the win with a time of 5:24.53 in what would be her final event of the day. The event in the middle saw her go to short distance in the 200&Yard Butterfly. She rounded out the day with a time of 2:20.19 to finish her big day.
The Wheeling University Women's Swimming team returns to action on Saturday, February 1st when they compete against PSU Behrend and Alfred State at 1 PM.
