Wheeling, W. Va. - Through the first month of the season, the Wheeling University Athletic Department has seen their fall teams continue to build as they prepare for 2026 postseason play. They closed out the final full week of September last week and on Tuesday, the department unveiled their weekly Cardinal High Flyer of the Week awards. Wheeling Men's Swimmer Emanuele Lugo earns the Male High Flyer of the Week award while Women's Cross Country Runner Jade Trowell earns the Female High Flyer of the Week honor.
It was a busy week for the Cardinals to close out September, starting with the Women's Golf team heading to the WCU Battlefield. The Cardinals would finish 4th out of the seven teams in the competition field, shooting a 351 in the one round event. On Tuesday, Wheeling Volleyball would continue their homestand, taking a 3-0 loss to Fairmont State for their first conference loss of the season. Wednesday would mark the third straight Cardinal Gameday down in Institute, West Virginia, with Wheeling Women's Soccer taking an early lead, but ending in a 2-2 tie with West Virginia State to earn their first Mountain East Conference (MEC) point of the season. After an off day for Wheeling Athletics on Thursday, the Cardinals were back in Friday action with Wheeling Volleyball starting the weekend with a 3-0 sweep over Point Park.
Saturday would be the busiest day of the week, with six teams in action including the start of the 2026-2027 Men's and Women's Swimming season. Cross Country would start things off, with Women's Cross Country posting two top 60 runners at the Youngstown State Invitational, while Women's Golf played the first two rounds against Grand Valley State. Swimming would get their season started at the Salem Relay Invitational, with the Men taking 1st overall with 156 points and the women taking third with 70 points. On the home front, Men's Rugby dropped a heartbreaker on their home field against Kutztown, falling 37-36 on a Penalty kick, while Volleyball ended the weekend with a 3-0 sweep over Malone. The weekend would wrap up with Men's and Women's Soccer hosting Concord in doubleheader action, with the women falling 6-1 and the men earning a 4-0 win.
Emanuele Lugo takes home the first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week of his early collegiate career, making a splash in his debut. He would swim as a member of three of the relay teams for the Cardinals at the Salem Relay Invitational, helping to bring home three top five finishes. His top swim would be his first of the day, when he competed as the Breaststroke leg of the 400-Yard Medley Relay team. He would swim the fastest breaststroke leg of the event, posting a time of 55.24 seconds and leading the Cardinals to their first first-place finish of the night with a combined time of 3:45.70 to beat the rest of the field by just under two seconds. He would round out the day as the lead-off leg of the 800 Freestyle Relay, where he would produce the second fastest time of the lead-off legs, swimming 1:49.36, to help the Cardinals secure a fifth-place finish in the field.
Jade Trowell is also taking home her first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week award of the season after setting a second straight PR at the Youngstown State Invitational. After setting her 6K PR by over a minute at the Robert Morris Invitational to start the season, the sophomore would continue knocking time in her second race. She would crack the top 60 of the event, finishing 59th overall running a time of 28:52 and putting together a mile pace of 7:45 per minute. The effort would knock another 47 seconds off her 6K PR, marking the second week in a row that Trowell would take at least 30 seconds off her 6K PR. As she heads into her final regular season race before the MEC Cross Country Championships, Trowell will look to better her time further as she prepares to run against the best in the conference.
Both Trowell and Lugo are taking home the first Cardinal High Flyer of the Week awards of the season for their respective programs. In the early going, the Wheeling Volleyball program leads the way with three honorees, while Wheeling Football and Men's Soccer have each had two honorees this season. Last week, the department honored three players, with football's Jalen Higginbotham, men's soccer's Alberto Madail, and volleyball's Camryn Matus each being honored.
The next Wheeling University athletic event is scheduled for Tuesday, September 29, when Wheeling Volleyball hosts Frostburg State at 7 PM.
