CANTON, OH – The Notre Dame College swimming and diving team traveled south to the Malone Invite on Saturday and Sunday Nov. 20-21, hosted by Malone University. The meet featured competition from the MU Pioneers, Davis & Elkins Senators and West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats. The NDC Falcons reigned supreme over the rest of the field during the weekend as the women's side posted 922 points, compared to D&E (802), WVWC (645) and MU (532). The men's side complimented the women with a victory of their own as NDC generated 1,133 points to take the crown. D&E finished second with 960.5, Malone tallied third with 599.5 points and West Virginia Wesleyan rounded out the field with 321 points.
 
In the very first event, Alania Wittum, Jaybreona Foster, Hannah Berlin and Abrielle Junge started Notre Dame off on the right foot with a 200-yard medley relay win (1:53.67) and 40 points for NDC.
 
In the men's 200-yard medley relay, Abram Hagedorn, Austin Arnold, Garrett Warren and Ashton Smith claimed 34 points and second place after being a mere .53 seconds behind D&E. The Falcons time of 1:35.78 is a new NDC program record which bests the previous mark set back in 2013 by James Fittro, Atahan Yaya, Tyler Cowart and Jeff Saltzgaber (1:36.70).
 
In the first individual event for the men, Jeremy Acosta claimed first place in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:57.21. Acosta was the only swimmer to break the five-minute mark, as he grabbed another 20 points for NDC.
 
Hagedorn followed up Acosta in the next men's event, by winning the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 53.02. The freshman bested four other swimmers who all finished within one second of his event winning time.
 
Foster captured the first individual victory for the women's side in the 100-yard breaststroke, at a time of 1:09.19. Berlin followed suit in the next event with a winning time of 2:00.07 during the 200-yard freestyle. The duo added another 20 points each onto the NDC score.
 
Smith was awarded the win in the men's 200-yard freestyle at a time of 1:44.32, more than four seconds ahead of second place.
 
Hagedorn continued his impressive weekend with win in the 100-yard backstroke. The Oregon, Ohio native swam a 51.41, which breaks the previous school record in the 100-yard backstroke, when it was set by Garrett Warren in 2019 (52.90).
 
The women's side rattled off back-to-back wins in the 400-yard free and 400-yard medley relays. Courtney Ledbetter, Alexis Torosian, Wittum and Junge won the freestyle relay with a time of 3:47.76, while Melissa Orvin, Foster, Berlin and Ledbetter posted a 4:07.34, more than eight seconds faster than second place.
 
In the 200-yard IM, Smith claimed another individual event with a time of 1:57.80, and another 20 points for NDC. Ledbetter followed up with a 100-yard freestyle win (55.76). Torosian (55.79), Junge (56.24) and Wittum (56.29) swam strong as well, as Notre Dame posted the top four swimmers in the event.
 
In an encore performance, Hagedorn reigned victorious in the 200-yard backstroke (1:55.78). The time of 1:55.78 breaks another Notre Dame College school record which was set by Adonis Thomas at 1:56.70 back in 2020.
 
In the women's 200-yard breaststroke Foster swam a winning time of 2:33.53 to gain another 20 points.
 
The men's 800-yard freestyle relay team claimed the top spot on the podium as Daniel Alvarez, Jayton Jenson, Ian Grzincic and Acosta swam a 7:26.11 which bested Malone's 7:27.82.
 
The Falcons claimed first place in both 200-yard freestyle relays, with Torosian, Ledbetter, Wittum and Junge swimming a 1:41.03 on the women's side, as Lorcin Kelleher, Roan Kelleher, Hagedorn and Smith swam a 1:27.07. The men's side was less than one second behind the program record (1:26.14) which was set back in 2013.
 
Adonis Thomas won his first event of the weekend during the men's 400-yard IM, when he swam a 4:23.69.
 
Ledbetter and Smith rattled off first place finishes for the Falcons in the women's and men's 50-yard freestyles. Ledbetter claimed first with a time of 25.42, while Smith snagged first with a time of 21.59.
 
In the final event of the weekend, Alvarez won his first individual event of the meet during the men's 1650-yard freestyle. Alvarez clocked in at 17:34.50, a comfortable six and a half second lead over MU's Caleb Cosentino.
 
In total, the NDC women's side was highlighted by Ledbetter and Foster who won a team-high five and four events, respectively.  The Falcons men's team was dominated by Hagedorn and Smith who each won four events over the weekend. Hagedorn was the spotlight for Notre Dame as a whole, as he had a hand in three record breaking performances.
 
Notre Dame College will be back in action on Saturday Dec. 4 when the Falcons make the short trip over to John Carroll University to swim against the Blue Streaks.