Canton, OH. - Over the first two days of competition, the Wheeling University Women's Swimming team had held strong in the top four of the Malone Midseason Invitational. They wrapped up the event on Saturday with another strong performance, placing five swimmers in the top five of their events. As a result, the Cardinals were able to hold their top three spot, finishing the event third out of the 14 teams in competition with 927.50 points, beating out every Mountain East Conference (MEC) team in competition.
The top performance of the day would come right off the bat when senior Gabby Baiano competed in the 1650 Freestyle. It has been one of her top events throughout her four years on the team, and Saturday was no exception as she finished third in the field. She would swim a time of 18:05.56 and finished just eight seconds off the pace of the lead. She would beat out every other MEC swimmer by five seconds and started the day off strong for the Cardinals. She was one of two Cardinals to swim in the A Finals of the event, with Lacie Langmyer adding the second top five finish of the event. She would end up taking fifth overall, swimming a time of 18:28.29, and had the Cardinals off and running through the final swims.
The Cardinals would keep the momentum going in the 200-Yard Backstroke, where Niki Chrysafi continued her success in the event. She would grab her third top five finish of the week, finishing fifth overall, and second among MEC competition. She would take fourth overall in the race, swimming a time of 34.37, and finishing just a second behind Fairmont State's Delaney Householder for the MEC lead. As the sprinters took the pool, it was Grace Moorley's time to shine, taking home the second fourth place finish of the day. She would swim a time of 53.16 seconds. She was one of two MEC swimmers competing in the A Finals of the event, joining her teammate Lydie Sprecher. Sprecher would finish two spots behind her, taking seventh overall in the event and swimming a time of 54.30 seconds.
After three Cardinals swam in the A Finals in the first two events, it would be the sprint swimmers that rounded out the day. The next Cardinal to compete was Caitlin Oltman, swimming in the B Finals of the 100-Yard Freestyle, where she finished 15th with a time of 28.55. Rounding out the event was Sofia Garcia, who swam in the C Finals and finished 23rd with a time of 57.48 seconds. Gonzalez was back for the 200-Yard Breaststroke, continuing her strong day with a 22nd place finish with a time of 2:43.31. In the 200-Butterfly, Olivia Moyer would win the B Final, taking 9th overall with a time of 40.01 seconds. She was followed by Mikayla Smitley in 10th with a time of 40.46 with just two finals competing in the event.
The final event of the day would be the 400-Yard Freestyle Relay, where the Cardinals would send Langmyer, Oltman, Sprecher, and Moorley to the pool. The foursome would take fourth overall, swimming a time of 3:40.10 to round out the event.
The Wheeling University Women's Swimming team returns to action on Saturday, January 10th, when they swim against Lenoir-Rhyne at 1 PM.
