Wheeling, W. Va. - After opening up the dual meet schedule with Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tri-Meet action, the Wheeling University Men's and Women's Swimming teams ((2-0, 2-0), (1-1, 1-1)) kicks off a first-half non-conference stretch. The run begins on the road on Wednesday night, when they swim against Washington & Jefferson College and Bethany College in Washington, Pennsylvania, with first events beginning at 6 PM. Both Cardinal programs had a strong start to their dual meet schedule, with both having things to build on in the pool.
Last time out, the Cardinals competed at the Frostburg State tri-meet, where they got the chance to swim against the host Bobcats and West Virginia Wesleyan. On the men's side, the Cardinals picked up their first-ever MEC Tri-meet sweep, beating Frostburg State 145-113 and taking down West Virginia Wesleyan 211-23. As a team, the Cardinals would take home seven first place finishes, between four different swimmers, with their up and coming stars continuing to prove themselves in the pool. On the women's side, the Cardinals would split the event, taking down West Virginia Wesleyan 175-23 while falling to Frostburg State 159-92. The women would finish with three gold medals at the event, distributed between two swimmers, while the Cardinals had several other swimmers finish in the top three of their respective events.
The men were led in the short distance events by Felix Norlin, who was named the MEC's Men's Swimmer of the Week. Norlin would pick up a pair of gold medals for the first time in his career, and was also a part of both Cardinal relay events. His individual wins came in the 200-Meter Short Course Freestyle, where he swam a time of 2:04.50, and the 100-Meter Short Course Breatstroke, swimming a time of 1:08.03. Segmen Duygun would also pick up his first two wins of the season, swimming in the long distance events for the second week in a row. His biggest win of the day would come in the 800-Meter Short Course, where he swam a time of 8:58.45 to win the event by over 30 seconds. The final multi-event winner for the Cardinals was Archie Pigott, who finished with wins in the 200-Meter Short Course Breaststroke (2:27.45) and the 200-Meter Shortcourse Individual Medley (2:27.45).
On the women's side, freshman Giulia Liberti leading the way by taking home two of the Cardinal's three gold medals on the day. It would be the first two wins of her collegiate career, as she took the lead in the mid-distance events on the day. Her first win would come in the in the 100-Meter Short Course Breaststroke, where she swam a time of 1:19.13 to win the event by just under five seconds. Her second win would come in the 200-Meter Breaststroke, where she swam a time of 2:55.25. The other win for the Cardinals came courtesy of Niki Chrysafi, who took the title in the 100-Meter Short Course with a time of 1:09.37. Chrysafi led the way for the Cardinals at the WVU games and continued her success in her first dual meet environment of the season.
As they continue their dual meet schedule, the Wheeling Swimming programs will get a heavy dose of non-conference opponents. After swimming in Wednesday's meet, the Cardinals will see Bethany again as part of their home tri meet on October 25th, and continues with Salem to kick-off the month of November. Both teams would either tie or exceed the program's dual meet win record a season ago and are off to similar success this season. The men start their conference schedule 2-0 for the first time in program history, while the women's program equaled their 1-1 start from a season ago. Both programs look to build their success in the pool as they continue to build to the Malone Midseason Invitational.
The Matchups
Washington & Jefferson: The Cardinals and Presidents are meeting for the seventh time in program history, with the Wheeling men leading the all-time series at 7-0 while the Wheeling women lead the all-time series at 4-3. Since the Wheeling program was reborn during the 2020-2021 season, the Cardinal programs have won each of the two previous meetings and both look to extend their win streaks on Wednesday. Their last meeting came on October 17th, 2024, in a meet that the me won 111-79 and the women won 119-64. Former Cardinal Jade Miller led the Cardinals with three first place finishes, while former Cardinal Gustav Lofqvist led the men's team in the sprint events with a gold medal.
Bethany: The Cardinals and Bison are meeting for the seventh time in program history with the Wheeling men leading the all-time series at 5-2 and the Wheeling women leading the all-time series at 7-0. Both teams enter the meet with a winning streak on their side, with the women having won the last seven meetings and the men having won the last four meetings between the two teams. Their last meeting came on October 26th, 2024, with the women winning 140-39 and the men winning 131-28. Leading the way for the men was Sarp Killic, who picked up a pair of gold medals on the day, while Lacie Langmyer led the women with a pair of event wins on the day.
The Details
First swims for Wednesday night's event are scheduled for 6 PM inside the Henry Memorial Natatorium on the campus of Washington & Jefferson College. Follow along with wucardinals.com for updates throughout the event.
