WJU Cardinals Sting Yellow Jackets

Berea, OH, Oct. 19, 2009---The Wheeling Jesuit University Men's and Women's Swimming Teams took on the Yellow Jackets of Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, OH at 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 17th. 

Both teams had significant success. The women swam to their first win of the season by winning 14 of 16 first places and all of the swimming events, as diving was also contested.  The final score saw the Lady Cards on top 182-97.  The men's team also experienced similar success by winning 13 of 16 events and all but one of the swimming events with the final score being 164-130. 

Several individuals experienced multiple wins at the meet.  Sophomore Chelsea Guiseppi stared the day off with a win in the 1000 Free with a time of 11:41.46 and later won again in the 200 Back with a time of 2:25.80.  Fellow Sophomore Jessica Steve was also a double winner in the 200 and 500 Freestyles with times of 2:06.37 and 5:45.50,respectively.  Andi Fitzgibbon rounded out the sophomore trio with a pair of wins of her own.  She touched first in the 100 Breaststroke and the 200 Individual Medley with a times of 1:14.99 and 2:27.74. 
A host of freshman added to the winning ways of Jesuit.  Freshman Stephanie Blau won both the 100 Back and 200 Breast, touching first with times of 1:05.07 and 2:39.46.  Emily Martin touched first in two events, the 100 and 200 Butterflies with times of 1:01.97 and 2:17.62.  Martin’s roommate and fellow freshman Casey Hamilton took first in both the 50 and 100 Freestyle events, touching the wall first with times of :25.68 and :55.91.

Both Lady Cardinal Relays reached the wall first.  The women's 200 Medley Relay of Guiseppi, Blau, Matin, and Hamilton took first with a time of 1:57.50.  The 3:53.95 posted by the women's 400 Freestyle Relay of Hamilton, Steve, Blau, and Martin also took first place. 

Head Coach Rick West said that he was very pleased with the performance.
“I am really proud of our ladies,” West said. “Baldwin Wallace is a very complete team and our women really stepped up to the challenge.”

The Cardinal Men also took first in both relays.  The 200 Medley Relay of Matt Logan, Michael Viscardi, Patrick Chadowski, and Max Queale took first with a time of 1:41.30  The 400 Freestyle Relay was led by Tom Smith, Matt Logan, Sergio Bracamontes, and Max Queale and touched first with a time of 3:25.66.
Freshman Patrick Chadowski led all swimmers with 3 first place finished in the 100 Butterfly, 200 Butterfly and 200 Individual Medley, with times of 54.52, 2:03.40, and 2:03.35 respectively.  Fellow freshman Matt Logan and Tom Smith added to the winning totals.  Matt Logan took first in the 100 and 200 Backstrokes with times of :55.60 and 2:00.89, while Smith touched first in the 100 Freestyle with a time of 51.04.

The upperclassmen took over the rest of the first place touches for the rest of the day.  Senior Sergio Bracamontes took first place in the 200 Freestyle with a time of 1:53.45.  Sophomore Ben Foreman placed first in the 1000 Freestyle, with a winning time of 11:35.87.  Junior Transfer student Michael Viscardi made an instant impact on  the team with first place finishes in the 100 and 200 Breaststrokes, with times of 1:03.45 and 2:23.38. West said that the men’s team’s win was significant.

“The men really held fast in this meet,” West said. “It is very tough to overcome a team that has as many quality swimmers as BW and quality divers as well.  We needed to have several first place finishes and we were able to accomplish that.”

West said he is looking forward to the rest of the season.  “I am looking forward to seeing how we tackle our future challenges,” he said.

Both teams will be in action next week as they travel to St. Vincent College next Saturday, October 24th at 1:00pm