Wheeling, W. Va. - The leaves are changing, the air is getting a cool breeze, and the playoff push is beginning for fall sports as the calendar changes to October. On Tuesday, the Wheeling University Athletics Department announced their weekly Cardinal High Flyer of the Week awards as winter sports practices begin and fall sports are pushing for the postseason. Wheeling Football player Ayden McKinstry took home the Male High Flyer of the Week award, while Women's Swimmer Giulia Liberti earned the Female High Flyer of the Week honor.
The final days of September would start on the Golf course, with the Women's Golf team wrapping up the Grand Valley State Invitational, while the men took on the Sunnehanna Collegiate. The women would shoot a three-round score of 1035 to take 16th in the field, while the men took seventh at Sunnehanna with a three-day score of 860. Tuesday would bring things back to the McDonough Center, with Wheeling Volleyball hosting Frostburg State and posting their third straight sweep with a 3-0 win. September came to a close on the road, with the Men's and Women's Soccer teams traveling to West Virginia Wesleyan College on Wednesday. The women would battle before falling 2-0 to the Bobcats, while the men grinded out their first shutout win of the season, defeating West Virginia Wesleyan 1-0 for their first MEC win of the season.
After an off day on Thursday, Friday would see Volleyball take their first road trip in over a month to Elkins, West Virginia. The Cardinals kept their sweeping ways going with a 3-0 win over the Senators, kick starting the department into the weekend. Men's Cross Country would kick-off the Saturday Gameday, placing one runner in the top 10 at Muskingum, while football went on the road for a 23-14 win over West Virginia Wesleyan. Sunday would be the biggest day of action, with five teams competing. Wheeling Men's Golf played day one of the MEC Men's Golf Championships, shooting 295 to start things off. The Men's and Women's Swimming programs would each pick-up first place finishes at the Salem Small College Invitational, with the men scoring 929.5 points, while the women put up 591 points. The weekend wrapped up with home soccer doubleheader action Sunday, with the women falling to Charleston 3-1 before the men dropped a 3-0 contest.
Giulia Liberti is taking home her first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award this season, after leading the Cardinals to a first-place finish at Salem. The junior would swim in three individual events for the Cardinals, and one relay event, finishing top two each time she took the pool. Her fastest swims would come in the 50 and 100-Yard Breaststrokes, where she picked up both of her first-place finishes. She would swim the 50-yard event in 32.35 seconds to take the top honors, while completing the 100-yard swim in 1:11.17. Her final individual swim would be the 200-Yard Individual Medley, where she took second with a time of 2:31.50. She would round out the day in the 200-Medley Relay, swimming the Breaststroke leg, where she put up a time of of 32.84 seconds to help her team get the win.
Ayden McKinstry is also taking home his first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award of the season, after being all over the field against West Virginia Wesleyan. McKinstry finished with 130 all-purpose yards, scoring two of his team's four touchdowns against the Bobcats. On the ground, he would set a career-high with 95 yards and scored his second rushing touchdown of the season. In the passing game, he would pull in four catches four 35 yards and one touchdown in the effort. Each of his touchdowns went for 35+ yards, including his 37-yard touchdown reception from Landon Lutz that would go down as the game-winning score. He sits second on the team with 259 yards on the ground, while averaging 5.5 yards per carry.
McKinstry would take home the third Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award for the football team, while Liberti earned the first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award for women's swimming this season. McKinstry joins teammates Landon Lutz and Jalen Higgibotham, while Liberti sets the tone for Women's Swimming. Last week, the department honored Emanuele Lugo from men's swimming and Jade Trowell from cross country.
The next Wheeling University Athletic event is scheduled for Tuesday, October 6, when Wheeling Volleyball takes on West Liberty with first serve at 7 PM.
