MARLBOROUGH, Mass. — Wheaton College (Mass.) men's swimmers Gavin Cullinan (Cumming, Ga.) and Brian Hixson (Scituate, Mass.) were both named to the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference All-Conference First Team, while Will Larson (Iowa City, Iowa) and Marcus Tran (Milton, Mass.) earned Second Team All-Conference accolades, it was announced by the NEWMAC.
NEWMAC swimmers and divers earned First Team honors upon placing first in any event at the conference championship meet from February 19-22, while second-place finishers received Second Team recognition.
Hixson and Cullinan became the first NEWMAC individual champions since 2007 when Barrett Roberts '07 won the 50-yard freestyle. The pair were also part of Wheaton's runner-up effort in the 200-yard freestyle relay along with Larson and Tran.
Hixson won the 100-yard freestyle with a school-record time of 44.75 and placed fourth in the 50-yard freestyle with a mark of 20.61. In addition, the senior finished sixth in the 200-yard freestyle with a personal-record time of 1:41.08. During the season, the Scituate High School product posted five personal-record times and turned in 20 top-five finishes, including six victories. The Business major won a pair of 100 and 50-yard freestyle races during the campaign.
Previously, Hixson finished fourth in the 100-yard freestyle and seventh in the 50-yard freestyle in last year's championship meet. Hixson will graduate as part of the 200-yard freestyle, 400-yard freestyle, 800-yard freestyle and 200-yard medley relay teams, which established school records during the NEWMAC Championship.
Cullinan finished first in the 200-yard backstroke with a personal-best mark of 1:49.41. The senior placed sixth in the 100-yard backstroke with a personal-record time of 53.03 and was eighth in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:41.92. A Biochemistry major, Cullinan recorded five personal-record times during the season to go with 17 top-five finishes. The South Forsyth High School graduate won nine races during the campaign, including three top finishes in both the 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard backstroke.
During his career, Cullinan has registered 11 top-eight individual finishes at the NEWMAC Championship, including a third-place showing in the 500-yard freestyle in 2023 and fourth-place showings in the 100-yard backstroke in both 2024 and 2025. The Georgia native also holds a pair of school records in the 200-yard freestyle and the 50-yard butterfly, while joining Hixson on the four school-record relay squads this past year.
Larson combined with Cullinan, Hixson and Tran to post a runner-up time of 1:21.81 in the 200-yard freestyle relay on February 20 at the NEWMAC title meet. The senior also scored for the Lyons with a 13th-place effort in the 100-yard backstroke on a time of 52.16 and a 14th-place showing in the 50-yard freestyle with a 21.15 clip. The Iowa City High School graduate turned in 15 top-five finishes during the season, including three victories. The Business major won a pair of 50-yard freestyle races.
In 2025, Larson also scored at the NEWMAC Championship for Wheaton with an eighth-place effort in the 100-yard backstroke. In addition, Larson was part of the program's school record in the 200 and 400-yard freestyle relays this season.
Tran earned a silver medal in the 100-yard freestyle with a personal-record time of 44.90 to earn Second Team All-Conference status along with his effort in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The Biology major also placed third in the 50-yard freestyle with a mark of 20.41 and broke the school-record in the preliminaries of the event with a time of 20.24. In addition to finishing seventh in the 100-yard backstroke with a personal-best clip of 50.07. The first year posted five personal-record marks during the year to go with 20 top-three times for the Lyons. The Milton High School product won 14 races, including four 100-yard backstroke events. Tran was also a member of all four school-record relay teams for Wheaton this season.
The Lyons owned a 4-6 dual meet record for the season and finished fifth at the NEWMAC Championship with 625 points for their highest-point tally since 2014.
