Wheeling, W. Va. - With a young team in tow, the Wheeling University Women's Swimming team headed into the Mountain East Conference (MEC)/Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) Swimming & Diving Championships looking to make an immediate splash. They would end up taking sixth overall and third among the MEC teams in the field, equaling their performance from the 2024-2025 season. The Cardinals wrapped up the championship season, taking home eight All-MEC honors across the individual and relay events, with two freshmen leading the charge.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was freshman Giulia Liberti, who took home two First Team All-MEC honors across the four-day span. They would come in the final two days of competition, starting with the 100-Yard Breaststroke on Thursday. She would be the lone MEC swimmer to qualify for the A Final of the event, but didn't take that fact for granted. She would swim a personal best time of 1:07.30, finishing fifth overall and dropping 0.84 seconds off her previous best. It was the first individual First Team honor for the program, and she would rack up another honor on the final day in the 200 Breaststroke. She would qualify for a heavy MEC B Final field, where she swam against five conference opponents. She would finish with the top time among that conference competition, putting together a time of 2:31.48 to grab the conference gold.
The other two individual All-MEC honors would go to sophomore Lydie Sprecher and freshman Niki Chrysafi, who each took on sprint events. Sprecher would do her damage in the 50-Yard Freestyle, where she earned Second Team All-MEC honors. She qualified for the B finals of the event, and swam a time of 25.02 seconds to put together a season-best effort and finish 14th overall in the field. Chrysafi was battling illness throughout the week, but fought through it to take Honorable Mention All-MEC honors in the 100-Yard Backstroke. She would qualify for the B Final of the event, swimming a time of 1:01.50 in the morning. She would hold her 14th place finish overall, swimming a 1:00.85 in the evening swim to drop just under a second off her time and earn the first All-MEC honor of her career.
The other All-MEC honors would come in the relay events across the week, with four of the five relay teams earning All-MEC honors. The top finish would come on day one, when Chrysafi, Liberti, Sprecher, and Grace Moorley competed in the 200-Yard Medley Relay. The foursome would earn First Team All-MEC honors, swimming a time of 1:49.40 to finish fourth overall in the field. It was the only First team honor for the Relay teams, and the next day the 400 Medley Relay team added to the honors. Chrysafi, Liberti, Olivia Moyer, and Sprecher hit the pool and were locked in a back and forth battle with Frostburg State. In the end, the Bobcats would get the better of the Cardinals, with Wheeling finishing 5th in the field at 4:05.97 to earn Second Team All-MEC honors.
Rounding out the relay events were a pair of Honorable Mention All-MEC honorees, with the 800-Yard Freestyle and the 400-Yard Freestyle rounding out the event. Thursday would see the long distance relay hit the pool, with Moorley, Gabby Baiano, Caitlin Oltman, and Lacie Langmyer hitting the pool. The foursome would finish sixth overall and third in the conference field, swimming a time of 8:08.54 to round out day three of competition. The final day would see the 400 Freestyle Relay take the pool, with Oltman, Langmyer, Sprecher, and Moorley rounding out the championship event. They would equal their 800 Relay counterparts with a sixth place finish, swimming a time of 3:40.12 to wrap up the event and earn the eighth and final All-MEC title.
With the announcement of the Women's Swimming All-MEC honorees, the Wheeling Athletics Department has now had 41 student-athletes earn All-Conference honors this season. It was the fourth straight season that the program has had at least five All-MEC honorees, and they combined with the men's program for 19 honorees during the week. The Wheeling University Men's Swimming program was also honored this week, having 11 swimmers earn All-MEC honors in the pool.
The Wheeling University Women's Swimming team heads into the off-season as they look to grow and expand upon their success in 2026-2027.
