Canton, OH. - The first day of the Malone Midseason Invitational kicked off on Thursday with the relay and long-distance swimming events. The Wheeling University Women's Swimming team had two teams compete on the night as they picked up a top three finish to kick-off the event. It gave the Cardinals momentum as they head into the final two days of the event before they wrap up the 2023 portion of their schedule. 

The top three finish for the Cardinals came from the team of Patrick Kirby, Quintin Tayali, Jiwh Santos, and Alberto Kofinke, who finished third in the field. Kirby kicked things off with the first leg, swimming 23.15 seconds and Tayali added a 21.30 in the second leg of the field. Jiwh Santos followed with the fastest swim of the race at 21.03 seconds and Alberto Kofinke wrapped things up with a 22.32 to bring the Cardinal's final time of 1:27.80. They would win their heat with the time and finished third overall to get the midseason meet off to a hot start. 

The other group to swim on the day consisted of Nathan Yost, Ethan Banks, Alex Ferebee, and Brayden Scott. The team finished 19th overall with a time of 1:38.42 as they rounded out the day's event. The Cardinals prepare for the start of individual swims on Friday and Saturday as they wrap up the 2023 portion of their schedule. 

The Wheeling University Men's Swimming team returns to action for day two of the Malone Invitational on Friday, November 17th, with preliminary events beginning at 9 AM.