Wheeling, W. Va. - For the past week, the Wheeling University Men's and Women's Swimming team has been training in Clearwater, Florida as part of their annual Winter Training trip. As they make their way back to Wheeling, the Cardinals will make a pit stop in Hickory, North Carolina as they take on Lenoir-Rhyne in dual meet action at 10 AM. Both the men's and women's teams have had strong showings in the first half of the season, and they look to keep that success rolling into the second half.
The last time each team took the pool they took on the Malone Midseason meet, where they saw some of the best-of-the-best in both the Mountain East Conference (MEC) and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC). Both teams finished in sixth place in their respective standings, with the women scoring 667 points, while the men scored 558.5 points. Between the two programs, the Cardinals had 11 individuals and relay teams to pick up top five finishes across the three days of competition, including a second place finish for each side. After having a little less than two months off from competition, the Cardinals are looking to hit the pool strong once again as they take on 2025.
Leading the way on the women's side was Jade Miller, who finished with three individual top five finishes, as well as being a part of a Relay top five finish at the event. Her best performance across the three days came on the second day when she picked up both her second place and third place finishes. Her top performance would be in the 400-Yard Individual Medley, where she took second place with a time of 4:47.78. The senior finished just six seconds off the mark of Gannon's Emily Hodges for the top tie at the event, and beat her preliminary time by just under eight seconds. She followed that up with a third place finish in the 200-Yard Backstroke, swimming a time of 2:10.18, missing the top spot by just four seconds.
On the men's side, it was freshman Euan MacLeod leading the way, with a pair of top five individual finishes at the event, while adding three relay top five finishes on the day. He started the event out with a bang, getting his first individual top five in the 50-Yard Freestyle. It would be a race that came down to the final seconds of competition, with MacLeod swimming a time of 20.72 seconds to bring home the silver medal. He would bring home another medal in the final day of competition, swimming in the 100-Yard Freestyle. MacLeod swam a time of 46.10 seconds and finished behind a pair of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) swimmers. He was also a part of three top five finishes in relay events and continues to be a leader for the team in his freshman season.
The winter break on campus has allowed the swimmers to take their winter training trip, marking the second straight year the team has made the trip to Florida. They are training at the Centennial Park Pool, where they get a chance to work on some different things than they would in their home pool. It also offers an opportunity for team bonding activities for the team as they prepare for the final two months of the 2024-2025 season. With three more dual meets remaining on the schedule, the Cardinals are looking to keep their early season success going into 2025.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Bears will be meeting for the second time in program history on Saturday, after beginning the all-time matchup last season. Lenoir-Rhyne would end up sweeping the Cardinals, with wins on both the men's and women's side. It will be the second straight season that the team is heading to Lenoir-Rhyne for the event, after making the same pit stop on the way home from last year's winter training trip.
The last meeting between the two teams came on January 5th, 2024, when Lenoir-Rhyne beat the men 177-66 and the women 143-104. On the women's side, Gabby Baiano and Jade Miller led the way with a win each in the 1650 Freestyle and the 100-Yard Backstroke. The men were paced by Patrick Kirby, who picked up wins in both the 100-Yard Freestyle and the 500-Yard Freestyle to round out the day.
The Details
First events for Saturday's dual meet is scheduled for 10 AM inside the Shuford Pool on the campus of Lenoir-Rhyne University. You can watch the event live by clicking HERE.
