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24-25 Year in Review: Spring Brings New Programs/Same Excitement to End of the Year

Story Links Wheeling, W. Va. – After seeing a successful fall followed by historic performances during the winter, the spring season would bring new life to the Wheeling Athletic Department. With two of the three new programs beginning their years, it was a chance for new opportunities for women in the department […]

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Wheeling, W. Va. – After seeing a successful fall followed by historic performances during the winter, the spring season would bring new life to the Wheeling Athletic Department. With two of the three new programs beginning their years, it was a chance for new opportunities for women in the department while other programs looked to build on their success. The competitive fire continued into the spring, with the teams combining for four conference tournament appearances, two trips to the National stage, and several highlight moments throughout the year. 

Up first was the newest sport to the Wheeling athletics lineup, Acrobatics & Tumbling, as they compete in their inaugural season. They kicked off the season on February 2nd in front of a packed Alma Grace McDonough Center and scored 185.170 points against West Liberty. It was a strong start to the season and as the year went on they continued a Mountain East Conference (MEC) heavy schedule. They had several strong individual performances throughout the season, and it all came together with the first win in program history on March 10th against West Virginia State. The Cardinals beat the Yellow Jackets 215.255-203.555. The Cardinals would earn  one more win in their final event of the regular season against Bluefield State to finish 2-6. The season continued at the MEC Individual Championships, with the Cardinals qualifying in the trio pass and scoring a 5.525 to round out their inaugural season. 

Next in the lineup was the rebirth of the Wheeling Women’s Lacrosse program, who made their return to the field after a five-year hiatus. They would make a splash in their season debut, taking down Allegheny 22-9 to get things started. The Cardinals would win each of their first two games, but a tough non-conference stretch had them sitting at 2-3 entering MEC play. Wheeling’s offense would once again be the catalyst to the team’s success, as they scored 39 goals in their first two conference games, starting out 2-0. The Cardinals would add two more conference wins to their ledger, and clinched the #4 seed in the MEC Tournament field. They would host Davis & Elkins in the MEC Play-in Game and picked up an 11-8 win to advance them to the semifinals. There, their run would come to an end as they fell to the #1 seeded Bobcats, but capped off a strong return to the field. Wheeling was recognized for their hard work on the field with four players earning All-MEC honors, including a First Team honor for Trinity Rose and Head Coach Faith Flanagan winning MEC Women’s Lacrosse Coach of the Year. 

The women’s sports continued to lead the charge as the Wheeling Softball team was up next, playing host to UINDY. The year began with a tough non-conference schedule as Head Coach Mallory Chapman prepared her team for the road ahead in the MEC. The Cardinals would take on UINDY, Malone, and Gannon before heading to Florida, where they picked up their first win and went 2-8 in 10 games. The Cardinals would split a doubleheader with Walsh upon their return and entered conference play at 3-15. After a slow start that saw them go 1-10 over their first 11 conference games, the Cardinals would turn things around at the end of March with a rain delay doubleheader sweep of Frostburg State. They would go 5-6 over their next 11 games and played themselves back into the MEC playoff picture. It came down to the final weekend of the season, with the Cardinals needing a split against Point Park, and a 13-1 win in game one would clinch their first MEC playoff spot since the 2018 season. The Cardinals would play a pair of tough games in the tournament, falling 1-0 to Glenville State before dropping the second game 2-1 to end their run. Amber Morgan led the way, earning Second Team All-MEC honors as she helped lead the young team. 

The first men’s sport of the spring season would be Men’s Lacrosse and they got things started against #19 Chestnut Hill. The offense was strong, but the Cardinals fell 16-10 showing they can compete against ranked opponents. Wheeling would split their four non-conference games, before falling to Lake Erie in their Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) opener. They picked up their first conference win the next time out and ended up splitting their first six conference games to sit at 3-3. Wheeling needed a late-season win against Malone on April 16th and got just that as they earned a 17-13 win to clinch their playoff spot. They ended the regular season with a 23-6 win over Davis & Elkins, awarding the Cardinals their first home playoff game since 2011. Wheeling would defeat #5 seeded Davenport 12-9 in the first round, before falling in the GMAC semifinals to Seton Hill. It was Wheeling’s first semifinal appearance since 2018 as they put an exclamation point on the revitalization of the program, that began with this year’s senior class. 

Wheeling Baseball was the next program to take the diamond and they started things off strong taking three of four against Pitt-Johnstown. They would go 5-5 over their 10-game non-conference schedule to start the season and hit MEC play with a bang going against defending champion The University of Charleston. The Cardinals went 1-3 in that opening weekend, a trend that continued through the MEC south portion of their schedule. With a team consisting of 23 new players, the Cardinals had their struggles and would finish 14-33 overall and 5-22 in conference play. In their final weekend of the season, the Cardinals would host West Liberty and picked up a 7-1 win in their final home game of the year. The Cardinals had two All-MEC honorees, with pitcher Sebastian Khan and outfielder Brett Johnson each earning honors for their work throughout the season. Just this past week, the Cardinals racked up their final honor, with centerfielder Nic Ancelet earning American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Atlantic Region All-Defensive honors. 

Coming off a National Championship in their inaugural season, the Wheeling Women’s Rugby team was back for their first 7’s season. After going undefeated in 15’s, the Cardinals opened the 7’s season at the Frostbite 7’s and went 3-3 in their first 7’s run. The Cardinals played six regular season tournaments and would win three of those tournaments as they put together a 20-7-1 regular season record. It would earn them a spot in the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) National 7’s and they opened postseason play with a handed 19-5 win over Bowdoin College. However, in the quarterfinals they would meet their 7’s nemesis American International College, falling 31-14. The Cardinals would win their consolation round opener against New Haven before seeing their spring season come to an end. Overall, the Cardinals went 32-7-1 combined in their inaugural season and look to continue to build towards a National Championship sweep. 

The following week, it was the Men’s Rugby team’s turn to take the pitch, coming off a CRC National 7’s Championship a season ago. Just as they did that season, the Cardinals rolled through the 7’s regular season schedule, winning two of their three regular season tournaments and going 13-1, with their lone loss coming against Iowa Central Community College in their final regular season game. The Cardinals then went into the Big Rivers Rugby Conference (BRRC) 7’s Tournament and tied their first round match with Aquinas College 14-14. From there, the Cardinals never looked back, scoring 30 or more points in each of the final four games and earning a BRRC Championship with a 31-5 win over Marian. The Cardinals rode that momentum into the CRC National 7’s, scoring 30 or more points in three of the first four games to get back to the National title game. There, they would take on St. Bonaventure and won 19-5 to win their second straight national title. Also for the second year in a row, Shadreck Mandaza was named the tournament’s MVP and the Cardinals continued their National Championship reign. 

After having their share of success in the fall, the Men’s and Women’s Golf teams returned to the course for their spring seasons. For the men, the Cardinals once again took on a new look with a young roster and they showed improvement each time they hit the course. Their top finish came at the West Liberty Invitational, where they finished 7th out of 10 teams shooting a team score of 602. On the women’s side, the Cardinals added two more top 10 finishes while also taking part in match play in two separate events. The Cardinals top performance was a second place finish at West Liberty, where they shot a combined 422 over two days of competition. Nicole Lincicome and Ella Keffer would each take home All-MEC honors, rounding out a strong season on the course for each of Wheeling’s top golfers. 

The Track & Field team rounded things out with their outdoor season as they once again battled for MEC titles. The Cardinals once again had a strong array of talent to face throughout the spring season with a combination of NCAA DI and DII talent. The Cardinals once again had a young team at the helm, and as they entered the MEC Championship field, many athletes were competing for the first time. The Cardinals would put two athletes on the podium on the men’s side, with Kabwe Bwalya taking second in the Men’s Triple Jump and Joshua Boehm taking third in the 400-Meter Dash. On the women’s side, the Cardinals had one individual champion, as Keala McCurry swept the Pole Vault title with a height of 3.35 meters. The Cardinals additionally had four athletes finish in the top five of their events, rounding out the outdoor season. 

As the department looks ahead to 2025-2026 season, the Cardinals look to continue their growth in the department and continue to compete for National Titles. 



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