NEW LONDON, Conn. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's swimming & diving team was defeated by host United States Coast Guard, 197-87, this evening at Roland Pool in New London, Conn.
The Lyons dip to 1-2 on the season, while the Bears improve to a perfect 4-0.
Wheaton scored three first place finishes for the meet.
Junior Gavin Cullinan (Cumming, Ga.) won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 52.89 in addition to a second-place effort on a time of 2:01.58 in the 200-yard individual medley to give him 13 points for the Lyons. Senior Anton Lopez (Oakland, Calif.) also tallied 13 points with a win in the 50-yard freestyle after touching the wall at 21.69 in addition to a second-place showing in the 100-yard freestyle with a mark of 47.90.
The Wheaton quartet of junior Brian Hixson (Scituate, Mass.), junior Will Larson (Iowa City, Iowa), senior Sean Hill (Ellsworth, Maine) and Lopez combined on time of 1:28.25 to officially place first in the 200-yard freestyle relay to close out the meet for the Lyons.
Hixson was the runner-up in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 55.21 for Wheaton and placed fourth in the 200-yard freestyle. Hill finished third in the 200-yard butterfly and fourth in the 500-yard freestyle for the Lyons, while junior Andrew Tran (Milton, Mass.) came in third in the 200-yard backstroke and fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Senior Sean Lyman (Pennsburg, Pa.), sophomore Blaise Minckler (Hilton Head Island, S.C.) and senior Colin Twiss (Mahway, N.J.) each registered a pair of wins for Coast Guard for a meet-best 18 points. Lyman won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:39.42 and was the top finisher in the 200-yard individual medley with a mark of 1:56.24. Minckler touched first in both breaststroke events with wins in the 100 (58.89) and 200-yard (2:04.72) races. Twiss showed great range with a win in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:25.93 to go with a winning effort in the 100-yard freestyle at 46.90.
Sophomore Colbrin Blanchette (Edwardsville, Ill.) and Drew Harris (Murrysville, Pa.) split the diving events with Blanchette placing first on the three-meter board with a score of 173.92 and Harris winning the one-meter board with a tally of 174.77 points. Blanchette finished second on the one-meter board with a mark of 166.27 and Harris was the runner-up on the three-meter board with a score of 159.75 for the Bears.
Junior Charles Gaines (Macon, Ga.) scored 12 points for Coast Guard, including a first-place showing in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 52.67 to go with a third-place effort in the 50-yard freestyle. First year Isaak Fowkes (Woodbridge, Va.) and classmate Luke Giguere (Belchertown, Mass.) captured the other two individual events for the Bears. Fowkes won the 200-yard backstroke in a time of 1:56.98 and Giguere took the 200-yard freestyle with a clip of 1:45.88.
Coast Guard opened the meet by winning the 400-yard medley relay by nearly six seconds. First year Zachary McGowen (Springfield, Va.), sophomore John Kaleta (Morrow, Ohio), sophomore Noah Reice (Wilmington, Del.) and Twiss put together a winning time of 3:29.20 for the home team.
Wheaton returns to the pool tomorrow when it hosts Springfield College at Balfour Natatorium at 11:00 a.m. in Norton, Mass., while the Bears host Roger Williams University and Kean University on the same day at 12:00 p.m.
