BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University men's swimming & diving team won the final event of the night to pull ahead of visiting Wheaton College (Mass.) for a 104-101 victory this evening at the Aquatics Center in Bristol, R.I.
The Lyons dip to 0-2 on the season, while the Hawks improve to 2-0.
Wheaton won six of 11 events, but Roger Williams took both relays. The teams traded the lead six times during the meet, including in each of the final two events.
The Lyons faced a 73-58 deficit with four events to go, before chipping away at their host. Sophomore Gavin Cullinan (Cumming, Ga.) won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:59.55 and first year Jadyn Arnold (Oakland, Maine) placed second with a mark of 2:02.10 to pull Wheaton to within 78-72. Junior Sean Hill (Ellsworth, Maine) won his second distance event of the night for the Lyons with a time of 4:57.02 to give him a team-high 18 points and bring Wheaton within striking distance at 86-83. Wheaton took two of the top three spots in the 200-yard breaststroke behind a first-place showing from sophomore Andrew Tran (Milton, Mass.) at 2:12.91 with senior Ben Goho (Lincoln, R.I.) picking up points in third place to give the Lyons a 97-91 advantage.
Juniors Seth Sutton (Dumfries, Va.) and Vince Tarolli (Syracuse, N.Y.) and sophomores Michael Holmes (Dartmouth, Mass.) and Daryl Kyabayinze (Kampala, UG) combined on a time of 1:28.95 to edge Wheaton's quartet of Goho, Hill, sophomore Will Larson (Iowa City, Iowa) and Cullinan by fewer than two seconds (1:30.61.) to win the 200-yard freestyle relay and the meet with a score of 104-101.
The Hawks opened the meet with a win in the 400-medley relay on a time of 3:34.93. Senior Ross Macy (backstroke), sophomore Luke Austin (breaststroke), Sutton (butterfly) and senior Blake Anderson (Seekonk, Mass.) (freestyle) earned the win for the home team. The Lyons were just 1.6 tenths of a second behind. Tran, Goho, senior Braxton Farrin (Walpole, Maine) and sophomore Brian Hixson (Scituate, Mass.) combined on a mark of 3:35.09.
Back-to-back wins from Hill and Cullinan gave Wheaton a 29-26 lead after three events. Hill won the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:22.92, before Cullinan won the 200-yard freestyle after hitting the wall at 1:47.52 head of Hixson's third-place effort of 1:50.82.
Roger Williams reclaimed the lead after Anderson finished first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.27 with Larson placing second for the Lyons at 22.51. First year Kevin Rice (Vienna, Va.) recorded his first collegiate win for Wheaton with a mark of 4:22.84 in the 400-yard individual medley and Tran finished second at 4:23.59 to give the Lyons a 47-46 edge after five events.
Macy and Anderson both picked up their second respective individual wins for the Hawks to contribute to their biggest lead at 73-58. Macy placed first in the 200-yard butterfly with a 2:05.94 clip and Anderson edged out Hixson in the 100-yard freestyle, 47.84 to 47.96.
The Lyons return to action on Saturday, November 4 when they travel to Bridgewater, Mass. to take on Bridgewater State University at 2:00 p.m., while Roger Williams hosts the eight-team RWU Invite tomorrow at 11:00 a.m.
