Wheeling, W. Va. - The first half of the Wheeling University Swimming season came to an end this past week as the Cardinals took on the Malone Midseason Invitational. It was a strong performance for both teams, with each finishing third in their respective fields, and the Wheeling University Athletic Department rewarded them for their effort with the announcement of this week's High Flyer of the Week honors. Men's Swimmer Aris Dimakis earned the Male High Flyer of the Week award while Women's Swimmer Lacie Langmyer took home the Female High Flyer of the Week as the swim program's swept the weekly honors.
It was a light week of action for the Cardinals, and it tipped-off on Wednesday with a split basketball doubleheader. The Women's Basketball team started things on the home court when they hosted Pitt-Johnstown and picked up a 62-54 victory. Later that night, the men went on the road to face Slippery Rock and fell in an 82-71 offensive battle, with the Cardinals charging back late. Wheeling Volleyball started their postseason run on Thursday, but fell in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Quarterfinals to Charleston 3-2.
The rest of the week was dominated in the pool, with the Men's and Women's Swimming teams taking on the Malone Invitational. Both teams had big weeks in the pool, with both finishing third in their respective fields out of 14 teams. Postseason play continued into Sunday, with Men's Rugby falling to Queens 45-28 in the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) Quarterfinals. The weekend wrapped up on the hardwood, with the Men's and Women's Basketball teams hosting their first doubleheader. The Men defeated Winston-Salem 86-66 in their home opener, while the Women took down Washington Adventist 57-45 to round out the week.
Lacie Langmyer is taking home her first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week Award of the season, coming off a dominating week in the pool. The sophomore finished as the team's leading point scorer, with 559.5 points, while also taking home the lone first place finish for the event. The win would come on the first day of competition, when she took on the 500-Yard Freestyle Relay. She would set a new PR, swimming a time of 5:14.06, and got the Cardinals out to a bang. It was one of three top five individual performances for the sophomore, as she also took fourth in the 200-Freestyle (1:58.13) and 5th in the 1650 Freestyle (18:28.29). Along with her individual success, Langmyer was also a strong performer in the relay swims throughout the week. The top performance came in the 800-Freestyle Relay, where she helped the team to a third place finish at 2:01.33. She would wrap up her big week in the 400-Yard Freestyle Relay, where she took 4th with a time of 55.73.
Aris Dimakis is also taking home his first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award this season, sitting as Wheeling's third leading scorer and highest medalist at the event. He would score 571.3 points across the three days of competition, and picked up the lone silver medal for the Cardinals. It would come in the 400-Yard Individual Medley, where he swam a time of 4:10.45, knocking a full second off his time from the preliminaries. His other top five finish would come in the 50-Yard Freestyle, where he swam a time of 21.35. In the relays, he would help the Cardinals to three top five finishes, taking fourth in the 400-Freestyle Relay, 200-Medley Relay, and the 400-Medley Relay. He was the leadoff swimmer for every event, with the biggest win coming in the 400 Freestyle Relay, where he helped the Cardinals to a time of 3:11.61.
With the win, Lacie Langmyer becomes the first Women's Swimmer honored this season, while Aris Dimakis is the second Men's Swimmer to be honored. Dimakis joins teammate Segmen Duygun in earning honors, while Langmyer sets the tone for the Women's Swimming program. Last week, the department honored Men's Rugby Player Panashe Mugorogodi and Women's Basketball Player Kenzie Dalton for their efforts.
The next Wheeling University Athletic event is scheduled for Wednesday, November 26thm when the Wheeling Women's Basketball team hosts Ohio Dominican with tip-off at 2 PM.
