WORCESTER, Mass. — Senior Anton Lopez (Oakland, Calif.) placed third to lead a potent scoring contingent in the 100-yard backstroke for the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's swimming & diving team on Day Three of the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championship hosted by Worcester Polytechnic Institute at the WPI Sports & Recreation Center in Worcester, Mass.
The Lyons tally of 421 points puts them in sixth place with one day to go in the title meet. Host WPI sits in fifth place with 436.5 points, while Massachusetts Institute of Technology owns a firm grasp of first place with 967 points, followed by United States Coast Guard Academy's total of 729 points.
Lopez clocked in at 51.07 to eclipse his personal-best mark by 0.70 seconds in the 100-yard backstroke. Junior Will Larson (Iowa City, Iowa) and four other Wheaton swimmers all established personal-record swims in the event as well. Larson placed eighth with a mark of 52.09, while classmate Andrew Tran (Milton, Mass.) hit the wall at 52.18 to finish ninth. Sophomore Jadyn Arnold (Oakland, Maine) posted a mark of 53.14 to place 13th and bested his previous standard in the morning's preliminary with a time of 52.99. First year Henry Wielgus (Pocasset, Mass.) finished 17th with a time of 54.41.
Junior Gavin Cullinan (Cumming, Ga.) registered a pair of top-six finishes during the night to score big points for the Lyons. Cullinan placed fourth in the 100-yard backstroke with a personal-best mark of 51.11 after finishing sixth in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:40.90. Senior Sean Hill (Ellsworth, Maine) posted a personal-best time of 1:41.89 to place 12th in the 200-yard freestyle and shave 0.74 seconds off his previous best, while junior Brian Hixson (Scituate, Mass.) also recorded a personal-record time in the event with a clip of 1:42.55 to top his previous mark by 0.36 seconds and finish 14th.
Wheaton finished sixth in the 200-yard medley relay to close out the night behind Tran's opening backstroke, followed by sophomore Kevin Rice (Vienna, Va.) in the breaststroke. Senior Colton LaBrecque (Vernon, Conn.) swam the butterfly leg, prior to Lopez finishing the race with the final 50-yard freestyle to touch the wall at 1:32.82 for the Lyons.
Rice also placed seventh in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:12.46, while sophomore Andrew Gust (North Andover, Mass.) turned in a mark of 4:18.83 to obliterate his personal-best mark by over three seconds from the morning and 10.45 seconds coming into the day in a 17th-place effort. Junior Alex Minickiello (Swanzey, N.H.) also scored in the event for Wheaton, clocking in at 4:25.71 to finish 18th.
First year Aidan Saunders (Harpswell, Maine) picked up points with a 19th-place effort in the 100-yard breaststroke following a time of 1:00.25 for the Lyons, while classmate Koby Wulfmeyer (New Paltz, N.Y.) touched the wall at 1:00.59 to place 20th in the race. He crushed his personal-best time in the event by 3.33 seconds in the morning prelim.
Wheaton returns to the pool on the final day of the conference championship at the 10:00 a.m. prelims in Worcester, Mass.
