Wheeling, W. Va. - The Wheeling University Men's and Women's Swimming teams had a bounce back week in the pool with both teams taking down Salem on Wednesday. The Cardinal swimmers were rewarded for their efforts on Monday when the Mountain East Conference (MEC) released their weekly Swimmer of the Week awards, presented by The Healthplan. Wheeling Men's Swimmer Felix Norlin was announced as the Male Swimmer of the Week, while Women's Swimmer Niki Chrysafi was named Women's Swimmer of the Week.
After falling the Saturday before to Davis & Elkins, the Wheeling Swim teams welcomed in Salem for their final home meet of the first half on Wednesday. Both teams would start out strong with wins in the 400-Yard Medley Relay, and from there they would continue to build on the day. On the women's side, the Cardinal swimmers would dominate the field with nine wins, eight individual swims and one relay, as they cruised to a 134-57 victory. It improved their MEC record to 2-2 heading into the Malone midseason invitational as they continue climbing the conference standings. On the men's side, it was a back and forth race throughout the night, coming down to the final swim. In the end, the Cardinals were able to squeak out a win 103-102 to keep their winning record in conference play alive. The Cardinals would lock up four win, three individual, as they rounded out the big effort in the pool.
Felix Norlin won his second MEC Male Swimmer of the Week award of the season after being part of two of those four Cardinal wins. He would start his day in the 400-Yard Medley Relay, where he swam in the Breast Stroke portion of the race. He would help the foursome take the top spot, swimming the breast stroke portion in 58.68, with a time of 3:38.45. His individual victory would come in the 200-Yard Individual Medley, where he would end up swimming a personal best. He finished in a time of 2:01.25 to finish just under five seconds faster than the rest of his tournament field. He rounded out the day in the 100-Yard Breaststroke, where he took 2nd overall with a time of 1:01.00 as he rounded out a big day in the pool.
Niki Chrysafi would take home her first MEC Female Swimmer of the Week award of the season after leading the women in the pool. She would be a part of three of her team's nine wins on the day, including two individual wins in the effort. Her best swim of the day would come in the 200-Yard Individual Medley, where she set a season best with a time of 2:21.12 to start off her individual day. She would also take the top spot in the 100-Yard Backstroke, where she would swim a time of 1:02.56 to take the top spot in the field. In the relay scene, Chrysafi would take on the 400-Yard Medley Relay, where she served as the leadoff leg of the race. She would help the team take the top spot by just under 20 seconds, swimming a time of 4:12.64 to kick-off the event strong.
Norlin and Chrysafi take home the 21st and 22nd conference player of the week award for a Wheeling University student-athlete this season. Felix Norlin earned the third Male Swimmer of the Week award for the team, winning two himself, joining teammate Segmen Duygun, while Niki Chrysafi took home the first Female Swimmer of the Week award of the season. Last week, Wheeling Wrestler Gavin Harper was honored as the MEC Co-Wrestler of the Week.
The Wheeling University Swimming team returns to action on Thursday, November 20th, when they compete on day one of the Malone Midseason Invitational.
