Canton, OH. - After starting day one with a Mountain East Conference (MEC) Champion in the relay events, the Wheeling University Women's Swimming team earned their first individual crown on day two of the MEC/Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) Swimming & Diving Championships. The Cardinals currently sit fifth in the field, and second among MEC competition with 293 points as they dropped one spot from their day one standings. The Cardinals would put eight swimmers in final events on the day, sending six more finals swimmers than day one.
The big swim of the day came in the 200-Yard Freestyle, where Gabby Baiano would qualify for the A Final. She would swim a time of 1:53.36to pick up the last spot in the A Final in the morning swim and automatically earned the MEC Championship. She would come back in the final swims and would compete against a full lineup of GMAC competition. She would take eighth in the field, swimming a time of 1:56.52 to earn the individual MEC title. It is the third MEC Championship of Baiano's career, after she won two individual titles a year ago. She looks to continue adding onto those honors over the final two days of the event as she continues to lead the Cardinals.
The second Cardinal to compete in an A Final on the day was Jade Miller, who swam in the 400-Yard Individual Medley. Miller would have a combined field featuring both GMAC and MEC competition, and would take seventh overall with a time of 4:45.56. She would finish fourth among MEC Competition, finishing right behind Frostburg State's Taylor Emrich. The final six Cardinal swimmers would compete in the C Finals of their respective events, starting with Lydie Sprecher and Olivia Moyer in the 100-Yard Butterfly. Sprecher would take 20th (1:00.61) and Moyer took 24th (1:01.82) to kick off the final swims. Following Miller in the 400 IM were Sofia Gonzalez Bernal, who took 22nd with a time of 5:11.68, and Mikayla Smitley, who took 24th with a time of 5:22.54. Moorley would swim in her second C Final of the day to round out the 200-Yard Freestyle, taking 21st at 2:00.53, while Lacie Langmyer took 20th with a time of 1:59.88 to round out the event.
The day would wrap up with the 400-Yard Medley Relay as Langmyer, Miller, Moyer, and Baiano took the pool. The foursome would finish sixth overall, third among MEC competition, with a time of 4:07.05 to earn Honorable Mention All-MEC honors.
The Wheeling University Women's Swimming team returns to action on day three of the MEC/GMAC Swimming & Diving Championships on Friday, February 14th, with first swims beginning at 10 AM.
