CANTON, Ohio – The Gannon men's and women's swimming teams opened the 2025 Malone Invitational with a commanding first-day performance, combining for five event victories and leading both team standings after Thursday's finals. The men posted 608.5 points to top the 12-team field, while the women sit first with 493 points after day one. Yet another program record was broken, as Marria Melnyk set her second school record mark in as many meets.

THE KNIGHT CAP

• Another Record Mark: Mariia Melnyk (Kyiv, Ukraine/Education Center Optima) won the 50 freestyle in 23.42 seconds, leading a strong Gannon sprint group. That mark sets another program record, surpassing the previous mark set by Silvija Taraska in 2021-22 (23.56). Melnyk now owns the record in the 50 and 100 free. 

• Capping The Evening: The women's 400 medley relay of Juliana Romero (Bogotá, Columbia/Colegio pureza de Maria) Castro, Maria Valcheva (Sofia, Bulgaria/Sports School Vasil Levski), Hailey Wills (Cleves, Ohio/Seton), and Mariia Melnyk (Kyiv, Ukraine/Education Center Optima) capped the night with a first-place finish in 3:54.26, less than a second off the school record (3:53.87).

• Opening Salvo: The men's 200 freestyle relay of Bryce Buret, Bengimin Ambrosiani (Seward, Alaska/Seward), Nickolas Ambrosiani (Seward, Alaska/Seward), and Nikita Poparcea opened the meet with a win in 1:22.91, nearly two seconds ahead of the field.

• Men's Individual Success: Will Retsch (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton) headlined the men's 200 IM, claiming first place in 1:50.48, while teammates Dylan Ray (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney Community) (1:52.72), Aidar Sataev (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan/Forest Hill) (1:54.66), and Malachi Boyle (Knoxville, Tenn./Home Life Academy) (1:54.83) swept the top four spots.

• Manny Finds The Podium: Manny Cisneros took second in the 500 freestyle at 4:41.09, while Dexter Jones (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) (4:49.26) and Ben Williams (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay) (4:52.96) added key points.

• Team Lead: At the end of Day 1, the Golden Knights lead both the men's and women's team standings heading into Friday's prelims and finals.

Next Up
Gannon will remain on the road for the Malone Invitational on Saturday and Sunday. 

This story was written using the support of AI.