Wheeling, W. Va. – It was a day of celebration inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center on Saturday as Wheeling Swimming honored their seven seniors that helped build the program. On Monday, the celebration continued for one of those seniors as the Mountain East Conference (MEC) released their weekly Players of the Week, presented by The Healthplan. Senior swimmer Jade Miller was named the MEC's Women's Swimmer of the Week, after being part of four gold medals performances on Saturday.
It was a big day overall for the Cardinals on Saturday, who picked up first place finishes in 11 of the 14 events they swam in. Prior to the meet, the team honored their seniors, five women and two men, in a special pregame ceremony. This group was special as it was one of the first groups that joined the program when it returned in 2020-2021, and today, they have grown it into one of the top programs in the conference. The success started right away for the team, who took wins in each of the first three events of the day before Fairmont State got on the board. The Cardinals had three multi-event winners on the day, with two of those getting wins in three different events, as they rounded out a 164-87 win over the Falcons.
Miller would stretch herself out on the day, swimming all three of her events from 200 yards or longer. She kicked off the day in the 200-Yard Backstroke, and started strong with a time of 2:20.23, which was good enough to beat the rest of the field by four seconds. It was a quick turnaround for the senior, who was back in the pool two events later for the 200-Yard Breaststroke. She continued to expand her lead over the rest of the field, swimming a time of 2:35.48 and beating the field by six seconds for her second win of the day. In what would be her final regular season swim in the Alma Grace McDonough Center Natatorium, the senior would swim in the 400-Yard Individual Medley. She rounded her home career out with a bang, putting up a time of 5:04.18 to pick up a win in her final home race. Her other event would be the 200-Yard Medley Relay, where she helped the Cardinals pick up a win at 1:55.10.
Miller takes home her second MEC Women's Swimmer of the Week award this season and marks the 33rd Player of the Week award selection for the Cardinals this season. Miller is one of three women's swimmers to earn the award, with Gabby Baiano winning it three times and Lacie Langmyer winning honors earlier this season. Last week Wheeling Women's Track & Field swept the honors, with Deja Ryals and Joshua Boehm taking home honors.
The Wheeling University Women's Swimming team returns to action on Saturday, February 1st, when they swim against PSU-Behrend and Alfred State at 1 PM.
