NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's swimming & diving team won eight of 12 events to defeat visiting Bridgewater State University, 131-85, this evening at Balfour Natatorium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 1-1 on the season, while the Bears fall to 0-2.
Wheaton boasted four different swimmers with 13 points in the meet. Senior Sean Hill (Ellsworth, Maine) touched the wall first in the 200-yard freestyle with a mark of 1:47.83 and placed second in the 100-yard freestyle, while junior Gavin Cullinan (Cumming, Ga.) won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:02.75 and finished as the runner-up in the 500-yard freestyle.
Junior Brian Hixson (Scituate, Mass.) topped the field in the 100-yard butterfly with a 54.43 clip and placed second in the 200-yard individual medley for the Lyons. Senior Anton Lopez (Oakland, Calif.) turned in the fastest time in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 47.56 to go with a second-place showing in the 200-yard freestyle.
Sophomore Kevin Rice (Vienna, Va.) and junior Andrew Tran (Milton, Mass.) each contributed with 12 points for Wheaton. Rice clocked in at 4:57.89 to win the 500-yard freestyle and was third in the 200-yard individual medley to give the home team a sweep in the event. Tran captured the 100-yard backstroke behind a time of 54.74 and placed third in the 50-yard freestyle. Junior Alex Minickiello (Swanzey, N.H.) coasted to a win in the 1000-yard freestyle with a mark of 11:04.67.
Bridgewater State sophomore Aaron Fowler (Brookline, Mass.) led all competitors with a pair of wins for a meet-high 18 points. He sprinted to a win in the 50-yard freestyle with a clip of 21.97 and added a victory in the 100-yard breaststroke after punching a time of 1:03.42. First year diver Theo Roan (Peabody, Mass.) won on the one-meter board for the Bears with a score of 183.65, while senior Robbie Soucy (Frye Island, Maine) placed second in the event with 121.60 points. Junior Desmond Ng (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia) tallied six points after placing third in the 200-yard freestyle (1:50.76) and the 100-yard backstroke (56.72).
The Lyons opened the meet with a win in the 400-yard medley relay. Sophomore Jadyn Arnold (Oakland, Maine) led off the race with the backstroke, before Tran swam the breaststroke to give Wheaton the lead midway through the race. Cullinan swam the butterfly leg and first year Koby Wulfmeyer (New Paltz, N.Y.) closed out the race with the freestyle anchor for a winning mark of 3:40.06.
Bridgewater State ended the night with the fastest 200-yard freestyle relay time behind Fowler, senior Thomas Roch (Chelmsford, Mass.), junior Cooper Sever (Edgewater, Md.) and sophomore Jirat Saengthong (Watertown, Mass.) for a combined mark of 1:30.93.
The Lyons return to the pool on Friday, November 8 when they travel to New London, Conn. to take on United States Coast Guard Academy at 5:00 p.m., while the Bears host University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on November 15 at 5:00 p.m.
