Canton, OH. – The final day of competition kicked off on Saturday as the Wheeling University Men's Swimming team finished out strong. They would finish 5th overall and 3rd among their MEC Competition, putting together their highest finish in the event in program history. While no All-MEC honors were awarded on the final day, the Cardinals had three swimmers taking 11th overall in their respective races.
The day started off with long distance events as Nathan Reigel led the Cardinals in the 1650 Freestyle. He was the first Cardinal to reach the 11th place mark, swimming a time of 17:46.18, and finishing fourth among MEC competition, just missing out on All-MEC honors. The next event would go to the short distance swims with Gustav Lofqvist leading the way in the 100-Yard Freestyle. He would qualify for the event's B Final, and took 11th overall with a time of 47.41. Like Reigel, Lofqvist also finished fourth among his MEC competition as he rounded out a strong showing. The final 11th place finish came from Matthew Charlesworth, who had his highest individual finish of the event. He would take 11th in the 200-Yard Breaststroke with a time of 2:14.17 taking fourth in the conference.
The Cardinals would round out the day with five other swimmers competing in final events. Sarp Killic would qualify for the C Final in the 100-Yard Freestyle, and swam a 47.00 to take 17th in the field. As the event moved to the 200-Yard Backstroke, Evan Yost would take the pool in the B Finals, and swam a time of 2:00.19 to take 12th overall. The final three swimmers were EJ Cooper, Alex Ferebee, and Alberto Konfinke. Cooper and Konfinke were swimming in their first finals of the event. Ferebee would lead the group, taking 19th with a time of 2:34.19, while Cooper took 20th (2:36.57) and Konfinke took 24th (2:45.92). The final event of the championship was the 400-Yard Freestyle Relay where Lofqvist, Kirby, Killic, and Nate Yost finished fifth with a time of 3:13.59.
The Wheeling University Men's Swimming team now heads to the off-season as they look to build off this year's success.
