NORTON, Mass. — First year Marcus Tran (Milton, Mass.) won a pair of events in his collegiate debut, but the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's swimming & diving team was defeated by visiting Bentley University, 152-128, this evening in a dual meet at Balfour Natatorium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons fall to 0-1 following their season opener, while the Falcons improve to 1-0.
Bentley won nine of 16 events for the night.
Tran placed first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 52.45, before winning the 100-yard freestyle with a clip of 47.43. The rookie also led off Wheaton's winning 200-yard medley relay with the opening backstroke, before senior Andrew Tran (Milton, Mass.) followed with the breaststroke. Senior Gavin Cullinan (Cumming, Ga.) swam the butterfly leg ahead of senior Brian Hixson (Scituate, Mass.), who touched the wall for a time of 1:34.89. The Lyons closed the meet with a win in the 200-yard freestyle relay as well. Hixson, Cullinan, Marcus Tran and senior Will Larson (Iowa City, Iowa) combined for a winning mark of 1:25.65.
Andrew Tran tallied 13 points for Wheaton, winning the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:01.20, before placing second in the 200-yard individual medley with a clip of 2:04.13. First year Abel Haller (Needham, Mass.) gained his first collegiate win with a time of 2:20.14 in the 200-yard breaststroke and scored with a fourth-place effort in the 200-yard individual medley and fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke. Larson posted a winning time in the 50-yard freestyle with a clip of 21.90 in addition to placing third in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 56.54 as part of a 12-point night.
Haller's win in the 200-breaststroke gave the Lyons a 100-97 lead with five events left to go in the meet. Senior Leighton Wielgoszinski (Madison, Ind.) topped the field in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:55.27 to give Bentley the lead for good at 110-106. The Falcons won the next four individual events, including a first place finish in the 200-yard individual medley by junior Matthew Walden (Cumberland, R.I.) to give Bentley its largest lead at 146-117.
Junior Daniel Ivanchikov (Leola, Pa.) dominated the meet for the Falcons, winning three events. He won both butterfly races with times of 52.16 in the 100 and 1:59.21 in the 200-yard event. Ivanchikov also added a win in the 200-yard freestyle with a mark of 1:46.20. Wielgoszinski added a victory in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:15.90) to win both distance races. Senior Owen Angkatavanich (Guilford, Conn.) won on both diving boards with a score of 218.85 points on the one-meter board and 197.50 points on the three-meter board. Walden added a win in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:59.24, before placing second in the 100-yard backstroke with a clip of 54.11.
Wheaton returns to the pool on Saturday, November 1 when it travels to Bridgewater, Mass. to take on Bridgewater State University at 2:00 p.m., while Bentley hosts Assumption University on November 2 at 1:00 p.m.
