CANTON, Ohio - Penn State Altoona men's swimming team kicked off its first multi-day event of the 2025-26 season on Thursday, when the Lions competed in day one of the Malone University Invitational at the Branin Natatorium.  

After the opening finals session of the invitational, Penn State Altoona found itself in fifth place out of 12 teams with a score of 202 points.

The Lions opened Thursday evening's finals with a ninth place finish overall in the 'A' finals of the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay, in which the team of Adam Dotts (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin), Pedro Teran (Allentown, PA/Parkland), Shuo Sun (Falls Church, VA/China High Schools), and Gabe Krizel (Allentown, PA/Parkland) had a time of 1:28.63. The team of Johnathan Bandy (Saint Marys, PA/Saint Marys), Liam Fass (Dingmans Ferry, PA/Delaware Valley), Nick Trabucco (Carlisle, PA/Boiling Springs), and Brian Nguyen (Lancaster, PA/Manheim Township) competed in the 'B' finals, finishing with a time of 1:32.84 to finish in 15th place overall. 

Caden Traggiai (Saxonburg, PA/Knoch) competed in the 'A' finals of the 500 Yard Freestyle, clocking a time of 4:47.69 to finish in fourth place overall. Teran competed in the 'C' finals of the 500 Yard Freestyle, clocking a time of 4:51.39 to finish in 17th place overall.  

The Lions had two swimmers competing in the 'C' finals of the 200 Yard IM. Ben Dotts (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) finished in 19th place overall with a time of 2:06.79 and Jackson Ketterling (Bismarck, ND/Bismarck) finished in 21st place overall with a time of 2:08.23.  

Adam Dotts also competed in the 'B' finals of the 50 Yard Freestyle, clocking a time of 21.89 to place 14th overall. Sun competed in the 'C' finals of the 50 Yard Freestyle, clocking a time of 22.17 to place 21st overall. 

The team of Krizel, Nguyen, Sun, and Ben Dotts competed in the 'A' finals of the 400 Yard Medley Relay, clocking in at 3:40.02 to finish in eighth place overall. Trabucco, Ketterling, Traggiai, and Fass competed in the 'B' finals of the 400 Yard Medley Relay, clocking in at 3:48.24 to finish in 11th place.  

Penn State Altoona men's swimming returns to action tomorrow, Friday, November 21, for day two of the Malone Invitational. Friday's round of preliminaries is set to start at 10 a.m., with the evening finals session scheduled for 6:30 p.m.