Wheeling, W. Va. - With January coming to an end, the winter sports season is in full swing as the final push for conference championship season is on. On Wednesday, the Wheeling University Athletic Department announced their weekly Cardinal High Flyer of the Week awards, and it was a pair of stand-out performances that earned this week's honor. Wheeling Men's Swimmer Segmen Duygun earned the Male High Flyer of the Week award while Women's Track & Field athlete Madison Conrad earned the Female High Flyer of the Week award.
The week of action would begin on the mat, with the Wheeling Wrestling team heading to Seton Hill, where they earned a tri-meet split. They opened the day with a 29-21 win over Shippensburg and fell to Seton Hill 28-15 in the back half. The action shifted to the Alma Grace McDonough Center on Wednesday, when the Men's and Women's Basketball teams hosted Salem. Both would earn wins, with the women beating the Tigers 60-46, and the men following with an 85-69 win. The weekend would see Wheeling Track & Field head to the Jud Logan Invitational, with two individual top three finishes leading the way.
Wheeling Swimming would host Fairmont State and Bethany, with the men earning a historic sweep, defeating Fairmont State154-80 and Bethany 197-0. The women would earn a sweep of their own, beating Fairmont State and Bethany to round out the day. Saturday would wrap up with a rivalry battle as basketball headed to the hilltop for "The Battle for Wheeling." Women's Basketball would take down the Hilltoppers 78-52, thanks to a 26-point first quarter to start the day. The Men would hold a halftime lead, but the second half would see it slip away as they fell 93-81 to round out the week's games.
Segmen Duygun is taking home his second Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award of the season, after leading Wheeling Men's Swimming to a historic sweep. The freshman was the Cardinal's leading scorer at the event, putting up 509.5 points on the day, while picking up two individual wins. He would kick-off the individual events in the 500-Yard Freestyle, where he picked up his biggest win of the day. He would swim a time of 5:01.44, while beating out the rest of the field by just under 18 seconds. However, his PR swim would come in the 200-Yard Butterfly, where he swam a time of 2:01.48. IT was just under a second and a half faster than his previous time to round out the individual events. He would round out the day in the 400-Yard Freestyle Relay, where he was the leadoff for the C group that finished third with a time of 3:33.71.
Madison Conrad is also taking home her second Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award of the season, and her first of Track & Field season. She led a big day for the Track events for Wheeling Track & Field at the Jud Logan Memorial Invitational, securing two top 10 finishes. She would also take home the lone first place finish for the team, when she ran in the Women's 3000. Conrad would put up a time of 11:01.75 to take the top spot, finishing just a second away from her previous PR in the event. It was the first of two distance events for the junior, as she took the track for the Mile just a few events later. She would add a ninth place finish in the event, running a time of 5:24.13 to round out the effort. She has picked up at least one top 10 finish in each meet this season, and looks to continue being a leader down the conference championship stretch.
Segmen Duygun takes home the third Cardinal High Flyer of the Wek award of the season for the Men's Swimming team, while Madison Conrad earns the second award for the Women's Track & Field team. Duygun has won two of the three awards for his team, joining Aris Dimakis in being honored, while Conrad joins teammate Autumn Kerchner in being honored. Last week, the Cardinals honored Women's Swimmer Gabby Baiano and Men's Track & Field athlete Magnus Polkner for their efforts.
The next Wheeling University athletic event is scheduled for Wednesday, January 28th, when the Wheeling Women's Basketball team battles Charleston at 5:30 PM.
