Freshman Mia Cheatwood set a new program record at the West Virginia University Invitational at the Mylan Aquatic Center on Saturday night, as the Mountaineers won their first home meet of the season.
The WVU Invitational began Thursday and concluded Saturday evening. The Mountaineers competed against six schools including Colgate, Drexel, East Carolina, Old Dominion, Seton Hall and Villanova.
Cheatwood broke the record for the fastest 100-yard breaststroke time, finishing the event with a time of 1:00.56. The previous record was set by Morgan Callaway in 2019, who completed the event with a 1:01.18 time.
With the help of Cheatwood’s record-breaking performance, the women’s team earned first-place and scored 1,707 total points. The men’s team also claimed a victory with 2,035 points.
WVU dominated day one of the competition, as they picked up six victories and finished with a combined team score of 1,156 points.
WVU claimed back-to-back first-place finishes in both the women’s and men’s 200-yard freestyle relay.
Cheatwood, Harna Minezawa, Jacqueline McCutchan and Ada Szwabinska ended with a final time of 1:31.66 to earn first in the women’s event, while Conner McBeth, Roberts Zemturis, Braden Osborn and Dylan Melin finished with a 1:20.55 time to win first-place of the men’s relay.
McBeth, Abby Reardon and Max Nielson also claimed victories in their individual events during day one.
The Mountaineers continued their success on day two, gaining early victories in the women’s and men’s 200-yard freestyle relay events again.
Gabriela De La Torre finished first-place in the women’s 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:47.83. Roanoke Shirk followed with a victory in the men’s 200-yard freestyle with a 1:37.13 time.
On the diveboard, Johns Owens totaled a final score of 347.10 in the three meter event to round out day two with a win for WVU.
During day three, McBeth picked up a victory in the 100-yard freestyle to give the Mountaineers their first win of the day.
The Invitational ended with the 400-yard freestyle relays, where McCutchan, Cheatwood, Reardon and Szwabinska claimed first-place in the women’s event with a time of 3:19.70. In the men’s relay, Roanoke, Osborn, Nielson and McBeth finished strong with a first-place finish as well.
The Mountaineers will compete again at the Toyota U.S. Open in Greensboro, North Carolina through Nov. 30 to Dec. 3.