NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's swimming & diving team was defeated by visiting Springfield College, 154-137, this afternoon at Balfour Natatorium on the campus of Wheaton in Norton, Mass.
The Pride improve to 1-1, while the Lyons dip to 1-3.
Springfield won nine out of 16 events. Wheaton won both relays to open and close the meet.
Wheaton led through the first seven events of the meet, holding a 69-62 advantage, before the Pride swept the top three spots of the diving events to take the lead for good at 78-69. Sophomore Christian Butler (North Haven, Conn.) dominated the one-meter board with a score of 304.42, while first year Andrew Testa (North Attleboro, Mass.) tallied 174.00 points and classmate Tyler Khongkham (East Hampton, Conn.) scored 139.05 points to place third.
The Lyons closed to within seven points on two occasions, including after the 500-yard freestyle where the home team placed 1-2 in the race. Senior Sean Hill (Ellsworth, Maine) won the distance event with a time of 4:56.92 to out-touch sophomore teammate Kevin Rice (Vienna, Va.) by just over a second at 4:57.93. Wheaton cut the deficit to 115-108, but it was as close as it would get for the remainder of the meet.
Springfield took its largest lead following the 200-yard individual medley at 150-124, prior to the final relay.
Rice led the Lyons with 17 points with three top-two finishes for the day. He won the opening individual race with a time of 10:14.21 in the 1000-yard freestyle and followed that performance with second-place finishes in the 500-yard freestyle and the 200-yard individual medley (2:03.77.). Junior Andrew Tran (Milton, Mass.) contributed with 16 points, including a win in the 100-yard backstroke, clocking in at 53.65, while placing second in the 200-yard breaststroke with a mark of 2:15.36 and third in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:05.17.
Junior Gavin Cullinan (Cumming, Ga.) and senior Anton Lopez (Oakland, Calif.) both scored 13 points for Wheaton with a win each. Cullinan swam to first place in the 200-yard backstroke, registering a time of 1:56.83 and added a second-place swim in the 200-yard freestyle, while Lopez won the 50-yard freestyle in 21.57 in addition to a second-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle with a mark of 48.49. Hill added a third-place effort in the 200-yard butterfly (2:07.30) to give him 12 points for the day.
The Lyons swept the relays, opening the meet with a win in the 200-yard medley relay. Cullinan opened the race with the backstroke, before yielding to Tran's breaststroke. Junior Brian Hixson (Scituate, Mass.) swam the butterfly leg and Lopez closed the race with the final 50-yard freestyle for a time of 1:35.59. Wheaton closed out the day with a win in the 400-yard freestyle relay behind Hixson, Cullinan, Hill and Lopez, combining to post a mark of 3:10.05.
Senior Jonathan Chan (Hong Kong, China) won all three of his events to score a meet-high 27 points to lead the Pride. Chan swept the butterfly events for the Pride, touching first in the 100-yard race with a time of 50.93 in addition to taking the 200-yard race with a mark of 1:58.60. He also added a win in the 100-yard freestyle with a clip of 48.28. Graduate student Matthew Kenvin (Boca Raton, Fla.) claimed a pair of events as part of a 21-point showing. He placed first in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:11.22, before winning the final individual event with a mark of 1:57.36 in the 200-yard individual medley. He also tacked on a third-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle.
Butler added a win on three-meter board with a score of 255.97. Springfield junior Dan Backlund (Duxbury, Mass.) contributed with 15 points, including a win in the 200-yard freestyle on a time of 1:44.40, a second-place effort in the 50-yard freestyle (21.63) and a fourth-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle. Junior Matt Quinney (Belchertown, Mass.) tacked on 13 points after touching first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:00.51 in addition to a third-place effort in the 200-yard breaststroke and a fifth-place showing in the 100-yard freestyle.
The Lyons return to the pool on Friday, November 22 when they compete in the Fisher Invitational at 10:00 a.m. in Bristol, R.I. at host Roger Williams University, while Springfield hosts Williams College on November 16 at 12:00 p.m.
