NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) men's swimming & diving team was defeated by visiting Connecticut College, 185-94, this evening in a dual meet at Balfour Natatorium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons fall to 2-7 on the season, while the Camels improve to 5-3.
Wheaton honored its four seniors prior to their final meet at Balfour Natatorium. Caden Gilbert (Cape Elizabeth, Maine), Sean Hill (Ellsworth, Maine), Colton LaBrecque (Vernon, Conn.) and Anton Lopez (Oakland, Calif.) were all celebrated in an on-deck ceremony.
Connecticut College won 13 of 16 events for the night.
Junior Andrew Tran (Milton, Mass.) led the Lyons with 13 points, including a win and a second-place effort. Tran finished first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:00.95 and added a runner-up time of 2:15.59 in the 200-yard breaststroke. Lopez also registered a win for Wheaton with a time of 47.68 in the 100-yard freestyle and was fourth in the 100-yard backstroke. In addition, Lopez anchored the Lyons' winning 200-yard freestyle relay. Junior Brian Hixson (Scituate, Mass.) swam the opening 50 yards, before giving way to classmate Gavin Cullinan (Cumming, Ga.). Junior Will Larson (Iowa City, Iowa) took over the third leg, before Lopez swam to victory, touching the wall at 1:25.24.
Hill turned in a pair of second-place efforts for Wheaton. He competed in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:30.15) and the 100-yard butterfly (53.49), while Larson was second in the 50-yard freestyle with a sprint of 21.65 and added fourth-place effort in the 200-yard freestyle.
Sophomore Ryan Karaca (Schenectady, N.Y.) tallied a team-high 22 points to lead the Camels. Karaca won both the 500 freestyle and the 200-yard individual medley with times of 4:46.64 and 1:56.82, respectively in addition to a second-place effort in the 200-yard freestyle. Junior Matthew Morris (Alexandria, Va.) and sophomore Cam Bizjak (Willoughby, Ohio) each posted a pair of victories. Morris owned the backstroke events with winning marks of 52.04 and 1:54.47 in the 100 and 200-yard races, respectively. Bizjak dominated the diving events, scoring 315.60 points on the one-meter board, before racking up 291.00 points on the three-meter board.
First year William Moulson (Andover, Mass.) totaled 14 points, scoring in three-different events for Connecticut College. He highlighted his night with a win in the 1000-yard freestyle following mark of 10:18.19 and added a third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle and a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley. Senior Justin Finkel (Cheshire, Conn.) and sophomore Evan Lyons (Longmeadow, Mass.) each scored 13 points with a first and second-place effort apiece. Finkel was the victor in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:57.41 and placed second in the 500-yard freestyle, while Lyons claimed first in the 200-yard breaststroke behind a time of 2:15.21 and was second in the 200-yard individual medley. Sophomore Cooper Voss (Glen Ridge, N.J.) touched the wall first in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:45.12 in addition to a fourth-place showing in the 100-yard freestyle to give him 11 points and first year Jack Mattison-Gulotta (Florence, Mass.) topped the field in the 100-yard butterfly with a clip of 52.77.
The Camels opened the meet with a win in the 400-yard medley relay with sophomore Tyler Choedak (Austin, Texas) opening the race in the backstroke. Sophomore Patrick Henry (Livonia, Mich.) swam the breaststroke, followed by Finkel in the butterfly and first year Nicholas Holovacs (Hingham, Mass.) in the freestyle anchor for a time of 3:30.02.
The Lyons return to the pool on Thursday, February 20 when they head to Worcester, Mass. to compete in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Championship hosted by Worcester Polytechnic Institute, while Conn. College is back at it tomorrow when it hosts Wesleyan University at 1:00 p.m.
