CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Seniors Brian Hixson (Scituate, Mass.) and Gavin Cullinan (Cumming, Ga.) each won individual goal medals and the Wheaton College (Mass.) men's swimming & diving team finished fifth following the final day of the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championship hosted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center Pool in Cambridge, Mass.
The Lyons eclipsed last year's total by 24 points, finishing with 625 points to place fifth behind Babson College's count of 692 points. Host MIT won their 17th consecutive crown and 20th overall with a score of 1481.5 points. The Blue and White's point tally is the most since 2014.
Hixson and Cullinan become the first Wheaton swimmers to capture individual NEWMAC titles since Barrett Roberts '07 in 2007.
Hixson finished first in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 44.75 to break Roberts' former school standard of 44.96 in the event by more than two tenths of a second. The record had stood since March 17, 2007 and was the oldest mark of all of the Lyons' records. First year Marcus Tran (Milton, Mass.) won silver in the event with a time that now stands as the second-fastest in school history at 44.90.
Cullinan won the 200-yard backstroke with a personal-record time of 1:49.41 for Wheaton. Junior Jadyn Arnold (Oakland, Maine) placed ninth in the race with a personal-best clip of 1:55.96, while junior Andrew Gust (North Andover, Mass.) scored in the event with a time of 2:01.53 to finish 16th.
Hixson was part of a second school-record effort for the Lyons, swimming the anchor of Wheaton's third-place 400-yard freestyle relay. Tran led off the race, before yielding to Cullinan, senior Will Larson (Iowa City, Iowa) swam the third leg before giving way to Hixson's anchor leg to secure a time of 3:01.06. The Lyons' previous mark of 3:01.97 in the event did not stand a year after being set on February 23 at last year's championship meet by Hixson, Cullinan, Sean Hill '25 and Anton Lopez '25.
Wheaton also received points from its second relay unit in the race, comprised of first year Luis Bonetti (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), senior Andrew Tran (Milton, Mass.), first year Abel Haller (Needham, Mass.) and sophomore Koby Wulfmeyer (New Paltz, N.Y.). The quartet turned in a time of 3:10.22.
Andrew Tran and Haller each scored points for the Lyons in the 200-yard breaststroke. Tran touched the wall at 2:07.99 to finish 13th and Haller's personal-best time of 2:10.35 was good for 17th place. Bailon finished 13th with a time of 1:57.74 in the 200-yard butterfly, while Gust obliterated his former personal-record time with a mark of 2:01.84 to place 19th.
Hixson, Marcus Tran and Cullinan finished within points of each other to lead the Lyons in the championship meet. The trio were all among the top 11 scorers in the meet. Wheaton, along with MIT, were the only two schools to boast three or more competitors among the top-11 scorers. Hixson scored 60 points to rank seventh in the league, highlighted by his win today in the 100-yard freestyle and a fourth-place effort in the 50-yard freestyle and a sixth-place showing in the 200-yard freestyle. Tran tallied 57 points to stand ninth in the NEWMAC, including his second-place 100-yard freestyle finish and a third-place effort in the 50-yard freestyle and a seventh-place showing in the 100-yard backstroke. Cullinan's 56 points were good for 11th and punctuated by his victory in the 200-yard backstroke to go with a sixth-place effort in the 100-yard backstroke and eighth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle. Junior Kevin Rice (Vienna, Va.) registered 27 points, including a ninth-place finish in the 400-yard individual medley and a 10th-place showing in the 500-yard freestyle. Andrew Tran finished with 25 points after coming in 11th in the 100-yard breaststroke and 13th in the 200-yard breaststroke.
The Wheaton men broke seven school records during the meet. Tran broke the 50-yard freestyle records (20.24), Hixson took the 100-yard freestyle standard (44.75) and Cullinan broke the 50-yard butterfly record (22.20) during a time trial. The Lyons supplanted four relay records as well, taking down the 200-yard freestyle mark (1:21.24), the 400-yard freestyle standard (3:01.06), the 200-yard medley (1:30.25) and the 800-yard freestyle record (6:47.97).
In addition to Wheaton's relay records, the relay also performed well throughout the weekend with top-five finishes in every relay, including second place in the 200-yard freestyle, third place in the 800 and 400-freestyle relays and the 200-yard medley relay and fifth place in the 400-yard medley relay.
The Lyons will await the NCAA announcement of swimming qualifiers on Thursday, February 26 on NCAA.com.
