CANTON, Ohio – Penn State Altoona women'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 ninth place out of 13 teams with a score of 96 points.  

The Lions opened Thursday evening's finals session with 13th and 20th overall place finishes in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay, in which the team of Victoria Oldford (Bucks County, PA/Palisades), Anna Heller (Chesapeake, VA/Huntingdon), Drew Porter (Centreville, VA/Centreville), and Paige Goray (Erie, PA/Harbor Creek) combined for a time of 1:48.13 in the 'A' finals and the team of Julia Daley (Langhorne, PA/Neshaminy), Téah Sponsler (Halifax, PA/Halifax), Alexis Buchala (Tamaqua, PA/Tamaqua), and Sophia Cowher (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) combined for a time of 1:53.83 in the 'B' finals.

Buchala followed that up by taking 20th place in the 500 Yard Freestyle, finishing in 5:37.31 while competing in the 'C' final of that swim. Heller also swam in the 'C' final of the 500 Yard Freestyle, finishing in 5:40.67.  

Porter competed in the 'C' finals of the 200 Yard IM, taking 19th place overall with a time of 2:22.31.  

In the 400 Yard Medley Relay, the team of Goray, Porter, Oldford, and Clare Smith (Hellertown, PA/Saucon Valley) competed in the 'A' finals, finishing in 11th place with a time of 4:17.36. The group's time set a new Penn State Altoona women's swimming record in that event, edging the previous record time of 4:17.48, which was set by former Lions Sarah Petry, Hailey Toth, Grace Dangelo, and Avery Heisey on February 18, 2022 during that season's Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Championships.

Sponsler, Heller, Daley, and Isabella Rhoades (Tyrone, PA/Tyrone) competed in the 'B' finals of the 400 Yard Medley Relay, taking 18th place overall with a time of 4:41.49.  

Penn State Altoona women's swimming returns to the pool tomorrow, Friday, November 21, for day two of the Malone Invitational. The day's preliminaries are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., with the next finals session set for 6:30 p.m.