Frostburg, MD. - Mountain East Conference (MEC) swimming kicked off for the Wheeling University Men's Swimming team (2-0, 2-0) headed to Frostburg State University. The Cardinals would earn the tri-meet sweep on the day, beating West Virginia Wesleyan 211-23 and Frostburg State 145-113 as they kicked off the conference schedule. It is the first time in program history that the Cardinals start MEC play 2-0, fueled by eight first place finishes at the event.
In total, three different Cardinals would finish with multiple wins on the day, led once again by the efforts of Segmen Duygun. Duygun would once again lead the way in the distance events, kicking things off in the 800-Meter Short Course event. He would take the top spot with a time of 8:58.45, beating the rest of the field by over 30 seconds for one of the biggest wins of the day. He would come back in the 400-Meter Short Course swim, and once again picked up a big win with a time of 4:16.33. He would beat out Frostburg State's Brandin Norris by 21 seconds as he continues his early season success. After winning the MEC Men's Swimmer of the Week award a week ago, Duygun was able to keep his success going in the pool as he dominates the distance events.
In the short distance events, it was Felix Norlin leading the way, picking up his first two individual wins of the season. He began his day in the 200-Meter Short Course and would beat out his own teammate with a time of 2:04.50. Tom Currie would finish two seconds behind him and Norlin would continue that success as the distance shortened. He was back in the 100-Meter Short course, swimming a time of 1:08.03 to win his second first place finish of the day. He would beat out Matthew Charlesworth by three seconds as he rounded out his day. The final multi event winner for the Cardinals was Archie Pigott, who took wins in two mid-distance events. His first win came later in the event as he took on the 200-Meter Short Course Breaststroke, where he swam a time of 2:27.45. He would come back for the 200-Meter Individual Medley a few swims later, and added a time of 2:16.37 to pick up his final finish of the day.
The final individual win for the Cardinal would come from Nathaniel Oliveras, who swam in the men's 50-Meter Freestyle. It would be a sprint in the pool, and Oliveras was able to take the top spot with a time of 25.01. Along with the winning efforts, the Cardinals also had several second and third place finishes throughout the night as the team started conference play with a bang. Charlesworth would round out the top individual scorers for Wheeling, taking a pair of second place finishes on the day. His first would come in the 100-MEter Breaststroke, where he swam a time of 1:11.24, and he rounded out the day with a second place finish in the 200-Meter Breaststroke with a time of 2:40.70.
The Cardinals would compete in two relay events to round out the day, starting things off with the 200-Meter Medley Relay. The team of Aris Dimakis, Norlin, Meiko Schonekes, and Olivares took the pool and would finish second overall with a time of 1:49.71. Rounding out the day was the 200-Meter Freestyle Relay, with Dimakis, Tom Currie, Schonekes, and Olivares taking the top spot with a time of 1:40.95.
The Wheeling University Men's Swimming team returns to action on Wednesday, October 15th, when they compete at the Washington & Jefferson tri-meet with first swims at 6 PM.
