THE MEET FACTS
Location: C.T. Branin Natatorium (Canton, Ohio)
Date: November 21, 2025

CANTON, Ohio – The Gannon men's and women's swimming teams continued their impressive showing at the 2025 Malone Invitational, adding multiple event wins and expanding their lead in both team standings heading into the final day. The Golden Knights captured victories in the 200 medley relays and a series of individual events, maintaining their hold on the top spot for the second consecutive day.

THE KNIGHT CAP

• Mariia Continues to Shine & Another Record Falls: Mariia Melnyk (Kyiv, Ukraine/Education Center Optima) now owns three school records, and she hasn't even completed half of her freshman season yet. On Friday, she set the program record in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 55.85. That mark easily surpassed Samantha Favret's 57.23, set in 2017-18.
  
  Early Relay Success: The women's A-relay of Bella Kling, Chinyere Mgbemena (Harare, Zimbabwe/Eaglesvale), Hailey Wills (Cleves, Ohio/Seton), and Mariia Melnyk (Kyiv, Ukraine/Education Center Optima) opened the session with a win in the 200 medley relay, posting a time of 1:46.53 to lead a one-two finish with the Gannon B-relay just behind in 1:49.96. The first place mark was less than two tenths of a second off the school record pace.

• A+: The men's A-relay of Dylan Ray (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney Community), Malachi Boyle (Knoxville, Tenn./Home Life Academy), William Retsch, and Bengimin Ambrosiani (Seward, Alaska/Seward) set the tone early, winning the 200 medley relay in 1:30.16.

• Flying Free: Gannon dominated the men's 200 freestyle as Nikita Poparcea (1:41.32), Manny Cisneros (1:41.78), and Ben Williams (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay) (1:42.00) swept three of the top four spots, with Bryce Buret finishing seventh to cap a four-in-the-top-seven performance.

• Dylan Dominates: Ray also took home first in the 400 IM, securing a time of 4:07.13. Ethan Weigel (Cowansville, Pa./Armstrong) took home fourth, clocking in a time of 4:18.27.

• Top Three Talent: The women's breaststroke crew again provided depth, with Maria Valcheva (Sofia, Bulgaria/Sports School Vasil Levski) (1:06.99), Chinyere Mgbemena (Harare, Zimbabwe/Eaglesvale) (1:07.94), and Lea Maric (Menton, France/Lycée Albert 1er, Monaco) (1:08.92) finishing first, second, and third in prelims before scoring in the A-final later in the session.

• Kuba, Malachi, & Marcos Claim Gold: Kuba Loboda's (Lublin, Poland) 48.88 was good for first in the 100 butterfly, whilst in the 100 breaststroke, Malachi Boyle (Knoxville, Tenn./Home Life Academy) narrowly beat out teammate Aidar Sataev (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan/Forest Hill) (56.21 - Boyle, 56.25 - Sataev) as GU took the top two spots on the podium. Not to be outdone, Marcos Rodriguez (Madrid, Spain/Santa María del Pilar) Fernandez was the only sub 50 second time in the 100 backstroke, winning the event after going 49.68. 

• Staying on Top: The Golden Knights lead both team standings through two days, with the men sitting first at 1,324.5 points and the women on top with 1,088 points.

THE NEXT MEET

The Malone Invitational concludes Saturday at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio.

This story was written using the support of AI.