Wheeling, W. Va. - Throughout the first half of the season, the Wheeling University Men's and Women's Swimming teams have been training for the annual midseason meet. On Thursday, all that training comes to a head when the Cardinals head to the C.T. Brannon Natatorium in Canton, Ohio for the annual Malone Midseason Invitational. The team will be competing across three days of competition, as they take on some of the best programs in the region to gauge their first half training.
Last time out, the Cardinals would host Salem University in their final home meet of the first half, earning a sweep on the scoreboard. The women's score was a little more lopsided in Wheeling's favor, with the Cardinals picking up a 134-57 win in the pool. The Cardinals would pick up nine wins as a team, eight of those coming in individual events, while having three different swimmers earn multiple victories. On the men's side, it was a much closer match-up with the event coming down to the last race. The Cardinals held a 10-point lead heading into the final relay and, despite a strong swim from the Tigers, the Cardinals were able to hold on for the 103-102 victory. The Cardinals had two swimmers earn multiple event wins and improved their conference record to 3-1 on the young season.
Leading the way for the women was freshman Niki Chrysafi, who was apart of three of the Cardinal's nine win sin the effort. She would start the day off in the relay events, serving as the leadoff leg of the 400-Yard Medley Relay. She would get out to a fast start, and helped the team swim to a time of 4:12.64. In the individual field, she would compete in both the 100-Yard Backstroke and the 200-Yard Individual Medley, picking up wins in both events. Her fastest swim would come in the Individual Medley, where she was able to set a season-best with a time of 2:21.12 to round out her day. Grace Moorley and Giulia Liberti would each add individual wins of their own to round out the night, with Moorley winning the 100-Yard Freestyle (59.65) while Liberti took on the 100-Yard Breaststroke to round out the effort.
Leading the effort for the men was Felix Norling, who picked up two wins, one individual and one in relay events, while earning the MEC's Male Swimmer of the Week award. He would pick up his lone individual win in the 200-Yard Individual Medley where he set his lone personal best on the day. He would swim the event in 2:01.25 to grab the top spot in the field by five seconds. His other win would come in the 400-Yard Medley Relay, where he competed in the Breast Stroke and put together a time of 58.68 in his leg. Segmen Duygun would add two more individual wins on the night, showing his versatility in both long and short distance swims. Duygun's first win would come in the 1000 Yard Freestyle, where he put together a time of 10:17.52 and followed that up with the 100-Butterfly, where he set a PR at 54.35 to round out the day.
As they head into their midseason meet at Malone, it will serve as the team's first multi-day event of the season. The rest of their events have been swum just on one day, but the Cardinals will spread things out this week over three days of competition. Included in the field are some of the toughest teams in the region, including Gannon from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), as well as strong NCAA DIII competition. Each day will feature preliminary swims in the morning, with the top 24 in each individual event advancing to the finals later that evening. All individual events will feature both preliminary and final swims, with relay events being swam during both the morning and evening events. Head Coach Will Hughes is looking for his team to take advantage of their multiple days of competition and compete against some of the top teams in the region.
Day one of the Malone Midseason Invitational is scheduled for Thursday, November 20th, when they begin the preliminary swims at 9 AM.
