Niagara vs Gannon
- January 11, 2025
- Niagara University, N.Y.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: Niagara Athletics
NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – Niagara swimming dominated Gannon University in Saturday’s dual meet, with both Purple Eagles teams securing convincing victories. The men won 188-71, while the women prevailed 187-73.
Sophomore Natalie Killion highlighted the meet by breaking the school record in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 56.10, eclipsing the previous mark. She also added a win in the 200 backstroke (2:04.77).
Freshman Holden Brock set a new pool record in the 200-yard backstroke (1:52.06). He completed the backstroke sweep by winning the 100-yard event in 52.19.
Marty Divis led the women’s distance squad with a commanding win in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:41.55), finishing nearly 18 seconds ahead of her closest competitor. Alaina Pitton continued her strong season in the breaststroke events, winning the 100-yard race in 1:04.32 and later adding a victory in the 200 IM (2:09.04).
On the men’s side, freshman Jordan Grab posted an impressive victory in the 1000 freestyle (10:14.39), while Reid Tichy touched first in the 200 freestyle (1:43.29) and contributed to multiple relay victories. Lance Cruz dominated the 200 IM with a time of 1:54.75.
Sean Finley starred in the breaststroke events, winning the 100-yard race in 56.54 and the 200-yard event in 2:06.17.
The Purple Eagles also dominated the relay events, winning all four races. The men’s 200 freestyle relay team of Tichy, Levi Morgan, Finley, and Nathan Dragon closed out the meet with a winning time of 1:24.36.
Up Next
Niagara will travel to take on Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario on Friday, Jan. 17.
Courtesy: Gannon Athletics
The Gannon University women’s swimming team kicked off its 2025 season with a challenging road meet against Division I Niagara on Saturday. The Golden Knights faced a tough test at the Oxy Aquatics Center, where they were ultimately defeated by the host Purple Eagles, 187-73.
The loss snapped a two-meet win streak for the Golden Knights, who had previously triumphed over RIT (156-138) on October 25 and IUP (142-119) on November 9.
In the Pool
In the meet against Niagara, several Gannon swimmers turned in strong individual performances:
- The 200 Medley Relay team of Isabella Kling (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley), Chinyere Mgbemena (Harare, Zimbabwe/Eaglesvale), Hailey Wills (Cleves, Ohio/Seton), and Lily Cunningham (Lavista, Neb./Papillion-La Vista) finished in fourth place with a time of 1:53.80.
- Roaa Farag (Heliopolis, Egypt/Nermin Ismail) earned a fourth-place finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle, clocking in at 11:24.67.
- In the 200 Freestyle, Madalyn Myers (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) touched the wall in 2:01.71, securing third place.
- Juliana Romero (Bogotá, Columbia/Colegio pureza de Maria) placed third in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 1:01.54.
- Chinyere Mgbemena (Harare, Zimbabwe/Eaglesvale) also finished fourth in the 100 Breaststroke, recording a time of 1:12.63.
- In the 200 Butterfly, Emily Hedges (Peachtree Corners, Ga./St Pius X Catholic) finished in second place with a time of 2:11.82.
- Alex Pannemann (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley) placed third in the 50 Freestyle with a time of 25.24.
- Farag returned for the 100 Freestyle, where she finished fourth with a time of 55.26.
- Romero followed with a strong second-place finish in the 200 Backstroke, recording a time of 2:11.24.
- Madalyn Myers (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) continued her strong performance with a second-place finish in the 500 Freestyle, completing the race in 5:21.38.
- Hailey Wills (Cleves, Ohio/Seton) placed third in the 100 Butterfly, finishing with a time of 1:01.71.
- Finally, Emily Hedges (Peachtree Corners, Ga./St Pius X Catholic) capped off her strong day with a runner-up finish in the 200 Individual Medley, clocking in at 2:17.87.
Gannon’s next competition will be a tri-meet hosted by Oberlin, which will also feature Malone. The Golden Knights look to bounce back and build momentum as they prepare for the 2025 PSAC Championships. Competition is scheduled for Saturday, January 18, at 1:00 PM, inside Carr Pool.
The Gannon University men’s swimming team started its 2025 season with a challenging loss in a dual meet against Division I Niagara University on Saturday. Competing at the Oxy Aquatics Center, Coach Milan Medo‘s squad faced a strong opponent in the host Purple Eagles, ultimately falling with a score of 188-71.
With this result, Niagara improved to 2-2 for the season, while the Golden Knights fell to 1-3 in dual meet competition.
In the Pool
Several Gannon swimmers delivered impressive individual performances during the meet against Niagara:
- The 200 Medley Relay team, consisting of Nikita Pau Popparcea Greiter, Kuba Loboda (Lublin, Poland), Connor Hebert (Damascus, Md./Damascus), and Nickolas Ambrosiani (Seward, Alaska/Seward), secured third place with a time of 1:35.38.
- Ryan Barclay (Knoxville, Tenn./Bearden) finished third in the 1000 freestyle, clocking in at 10:30.02.
- Ben Williams (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay) placed fourth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:49.89.
- Dylan Ray (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney Community) finished fourth in the 100 backstroke, posting a time of 54.82.
- Nikita Pau Popparcea Greiter also obtained a fourth-place finish in the 100 freestyle, recording a time of 49.06.
- Nickolas Ambrosiani (Seward, Alaska/Seward) earned third place in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:05.24.
- Aidar Sataev (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan/Forest Hill) claimed third in the 200 breaststroke, finishing with a time of 2:17.02.
- Kuba Loboda (Lublin, Poland) added another third-place finish in the 100 breaststroke.
- Will Retsch (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton) placed fourth in the 200 butterfly, recording a time of 2:04.07.
- Nikita Pau Popparcea Greiter capped off his strong performance with a fourth-place finish in the 50 freestyle, clocking in at 21.88.
- Dylan Ray (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney Community) finished third in the 200 individual medley (IM) with a time of 2:02.34.
- The 200 Freestyle Relay team, comprising Nikita Pau Popparcea Greiter, Derell Augustine (La Brea, Trinidad & Tobago/Vessigny Secondary School), Koba Loboda, and Connor Hebert (Damascus, Md./Damascus), secured second place with a time of 1:27.31.
Gannon’s next competition will be a tri-meet hosted by Oberlin, which will also feature Malone and Oberlin as contenders. The Golden Knights are focused on bouncing back and building momentum as they prepare for the 2025 PSAC Championship. The meet is scheduled for Saturday, January 18, at 1:00 PM in Carr Pool.
