Wheeling, W. Va. – Over the spring break, the Wheeling University Athletic Teams headed to warmer weather to prepare for the conference stretch run. The Cardinals took advantage of the warmer weather and two Cardinals stood out above the rest as the department announced their weekly Cardinal High Flyer of the Week Awards. Wheeling Men's Rugby Player Shadreck Mandaza earns the Male High Flyer of the Week award while Amber Morgan was awarded the Female High Flyer of the Week award.
The biggest play of the week came from Wheeling Softball, who played in eight games across five days from Monday to Friday. The Cardinals would open the week with a split against Holy Family and Roosevelt, but finished the trip at 2-6, and went 2-8 across the 10 games during the week. It was also a week for postseason play with the Men's and Women's Basketball team taking on the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament. The Men's Basketball team took on Davis & Elkins, falling 63-61, while the women fell to Glenville State 58-49. The week would wrap up with Wheeling Women's Golf opening their spring schedule at the Calabash Invitational. The Cardinals would finish 10th across the two-day event, putting up a team score of 849 across the two rounds.
On Saturday, the Wheeling Men's Lacrosse team was back at Bishop Schmitt Field, and fell to Frostburg State in non-conference action 9-7. On the road, the spring 7's season would kick-off for the Men's Rugby team, with the Cardinals taking on the Peach 7's. Wheeling would go 5-0 on the day, outscoring their opponents 168-33 on their way to the tournament championships. Wheeling Baseball would make a trip to Painesville, Ohio to battle Lake Erie College. They kicked off the weekend Saturday with a come from behind win over the Storm 10-9. On Sunday, the Cardinals would drop both halves of their doubleheader, finishing the weekend 1-2. The weekend would wrap up on Sunday with the Wheeling 7's and the Cardinals would win their first-ever 7's tournament as they took down Pitt 40-5.
On the men's side, Shadreck Madaza takes home his first Male High Flyer of the Week award of the season. It was a big scoring day for the sophomore, who led the team in tries, conversion kicks, and total points. Mandaza would be the Cardinal's leading try scorer, finishing with 11 tries, including three multi-try efforts across the five games. Along with his success getting across the try line, Mandaza would also handle a majority of the kicking duties for the Cardinals. He would finish 10-15 on conversion kicks throughout the day and was the Cardinal's second-leading conversion kicker on the day. In total, Mandaza would finish with 75 points across the five games, and built off what was an already strong showing from last season.
Amber Morgan would also take home her first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award of the season after leading the Cardinals during their Florida trip. The sophomore would finish the six-game stretch going 18-31 (.581) with one double, two triples, three RBI, and five runs scored. Her biggest effort came in the final game against Felician, where Morgan went 4-4 with two triples and two runs scored. She finished with multi-hit efforts in four of those six games as she continues to lead the Cardinal offense. As the Cardinals prepare for the start of MEC play later this week, Morgan will be a key part to the Cardinal's success as they chase down a spot in the 2025 MEC Softball Championships.
The next Wheeling University Athletic event is scheduled for Friday, March 14th, when the Wheeling Women's Lacrosse takes on Rockhurst with opening face-off at 11 AM.
