Wheeling, W. Va. – With April in full swing, the Wheeling University spring Athletic programs are in the final stretch run towards their respective conference championships. On Tuesday, the department announced their weekly Cardinals High Flyer of the Week award winners, and it was a pair of team leaders that earned the titles. Wheeling Track & Field athlete Autumn Kerschner and Men's Lacrosse player Riley Lincoln earned the honors, after each had big weeks for their teams.
The final week of March opened on the baseball diamond with Wheeling baseball wrapping up their weekend against Concord. The Cardinals would earn a sweep of the day, with wins of 4-2 and 2-1 getting the week started strong. On Tuesday, the action continued on the diamond with baseball falling in a non-conference matchup with CAL-U 12-6, And Wheeling would start the week 2-1 on the field. Has the calendar flipped to April the Wheeling men's and women's lacrosse teams took the field for doubleheader action. The women fell to Frostburg State 21-7 before the men beat Point Park 15-5 to wrap up the day. With Easter approaching, the weekend was moved up a day beginning with Outdoor Track & Field Competing at the Cherry Blossom Invitational. The two teams started the weekend strong, combining to pick up three top five finishes as they took on their second NCAA DI event of the outdoor season
Wheeling softball was up next and they opened their weekend against Fairmont State, who they fell to by scores of 10-2 and 2-1. Friday would also be the opener of baseball's four-game weekend set with Salem. The Cardinals open the weekend with a split taking game 1 4-2, before falling in an 8-5 contest in game two. Acrobatics and Tumbling would round out the night and try meet action against Fairmont State and Frostburg State, falling against both teams. Saturday would close out the weekend with softball back on the diamond this time against Frostburg State. The Cardinals would drop both games of the weekend set by scores of 11-1 and 5-1 earned a sweep on the final day with Salem, weighing by scores of 13-3 and 6-5. Men's lacrosse would play the final game of the weekend as they took down Tiffin 11-9 to claim a big conference win.
Autumn Kerschner is taking home her second Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award of the season, including her first during the outdoor season. She would lead the way for the women's track and field team at the Cherry blossom Invitational, where she competed in three different events on the day. Her best performance would come in the women's high jump, where she took home the only individual event Championship of the day for the Cardinals. She would end up clearing the bar with a height of 1.52. meters, being one of three athletes to clear the mark on the day. It was just .02 meters shy of her career high as she continues to be a leader in the jump events. Her other top mark came the discus throw, where she finished just outside the top five. She would place sixth in the event with a distance of 36.24 meters, leading a field of three Cardinal competitors on the day.
Riley Lincoln earned his first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award of the season, after leading Wheeling's defensive effort during the week, helping the Cardinals go 2-0 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play. The Freshman long stick midfielder would finish the week with seven caused turnovers and nine ground balls across the two games. His biggest effort would come against Point Park, when he forced five cause turnovers while also picking up five ground balls. The Point Park game marked just the third time this season that Lincoln has forced five or more caused turnovers in a game. He wo more caused turnovers against Tiffin to round up the week while adding four ground balls in the effort.
Autumn Kerchner earned the second High Flyer of the Week honor for the Outdoor Track and field team, while Riley Lincoln earned the first honor for Men's Lacrosse. It is the second week in a row that an outdoor Track athlete has been honored, while Men's Lacrosse gets their first award of the season. Last week, Track's Madison Conrad and Baseball's Gavin Millians each took home honors.
The next Wheeling University athletic event is scheduled for Thursday, April 9th, when Women's Lacrosse takes on Davis & Elkins at 4 PM.
