West Virginia Finishes First Day at Big 12 East Showdown

Friday, January 16

Houston, Texas

11 a.m./6 p.m.

West Virginia University

Big 12 East Showdown

Friday AM Results Friday PM Results

West Virginia hosted the WV State Games on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, at The Peak Health Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown, W.Va.

West Virginia Finishes First Day at Big 12 East Showdown

January 16, 2026 11:56 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Friday AM Results Friday PM Results

By: Charles Montgomery

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University men's and women's swimming and diving team completed the first day of the Big 12 East Showdown at CRWC Natatorium in Houston on Friday.

The men's team is in third place with 507 points, and the women's team is in fifth place with 498 points.

The Mountaineers began the day in the morning session with a second place finish in the men's 200-yard medley relay. The team, comprised of freshmen Caden Oprandy and Dragos Ghile, sophomore Szymon Mieczkowski and junior Jameson McEnaney, touched the wall at 1:28.41.

Ghile also placed third in the 100-yard butterfly with a final time of 48.43.

In the women's 400-yard individual medley, sophomore MJ Gilligan posted a top-10 time in program history for the event with a final time of 4:20.64 to finish third.

Redshirt junior Christian Simpson became the second Mountaineer on the men's team to finish on the podium as he placed second in the 200-yard freestyle (1:37.48). WVU wrapped up the morning session in the pool with a second place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:21.14) on the men's side.

In the evening session, redshirt senior Natasha Whittall started the night with a third place finish in the women's 100-yard backstroke (54.38). She now ranks sixth all-time in program history in that event.

Freshman Rafael Mimoso had a tremendous swim in the 200-yard breaststroke, placing second with a final time of 1:57.90. Freshman Jake Salcedo added to the list of podium finishers on the men's team with a second place finish in the 500-yard freestyle (4:25.77).

In the diving well, redshirt senior Glenn Eloriaga placed third on 1-meter (327.55) and second on 3-meter with 344.60 points. Sophomore Levi Hellmann finished third on 3-meter (343.25).

West Virginia returns to action at 11 a.m. The meet will be streamed on YouTube.

For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUSwimDive on X, Facebook and Instagram.