CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's swimming & diving team placed fifth at the 2024 New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Women's Swimming & Diving Championship hosted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the Zesiger Center Pool in Cambridge, Mass.
The Lyons totaled 532 points over the four-day meet to record their highest finish since 2019. Host MIT finished with 1483.5 points to capture its 15th straight NEWMAC crown and 18th in program history. United States Coast Guard Academy finished as the runner-up with 896 points, while Worcester Polytechnic Institute was third with 825 points. Babson College placed fourth with 740.5 points and Springfield College was sixth with 519 points.
First year Kevin Rice (Vienna, Va.) opened the evening for Wheaton by breaking the school record in the 1650-yard freestyle by over four seconds with a mark of 16:18.25 and also set a new program standard for the 1000-yards within the same race with a time of 9:49.14 to shave more than three seconds off the previous record, while placing fifth for the Lyons. Sean Hill had set both records earlier this season on December 3. Sophomore Alex Minickiello (Swanzey, N.H.) was 11th with a time of 17:09.02, while junior Caden Gilbert (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) finished 20th with a mark of 18:13.02.
Sophomore Gavin Cullinan (Cumming, Ga.) posted a time of 1:52.50 to place sixth in the 200-yard backstroke for the Lyons. First year Jadyn Arnold (Oakland, Maine) finished 15th with a mark of 2:00.67 and classmate Andrew Gust (North Andover, Mass.) clocked in with a personal-record time of 2:05.47 to place 19th.
Wheaton scored with three finishers in the top-11 of the 200-yard breaststroke. Seniors Ben Goho (Lincoln, R.I.) and Aidan Carberry (Narragansett, R.I.) both registered personal-record times in their final collegiate individual event. Goho touched the wall at 2:06.01 to place seventh and Carberry shattered his previous best time with a mark of 2:07.98 to finish 11th in the consolation finals. Sophomore Andrew Tran (Milton, Mass.) placed 10th in the finals heat with a time of 2:08.05.
Junior Anton Lopez (Oakland, Calif.) swam a personal-record time of 46.04 to finish eighth in the 100-yard freestyle and senior Braxton Farrin (Walpole, Maine) turned in a time of 2:00.83 to finish 10th in the finals heat for the Lyons.
Wheaton closed the night by finishing sixth in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a season-best time of 3:07.58. Lopez opened the race, followed by Tran and Goho, before Cullinan closed it out with the final 100 yards.
The highlight of the championship meet for the Lyons was undoubtedly their third-place effort in the 200-yard medley relay on Saturday night behind Tran, Goho, Cullinan and Lopez to earn a bronze medal. Wheaton earned a combined 14 top-10 individual finishes during the meet.
The 2024 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships will take place March 20-23, 2024 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, NC. Prior to the NCAA Division III Championships, Diving Regionals will take place March 1-2 at Colby College in Waterville, ME. NCAA Championship selections will be announced on NCAA.com on February 28 (Unofficial psych sheet released) and March 4 (Official psych sheet released).
