Men's swimming and diving nets second straight fourth-place finish at NEWMAC Championship, Roberts automatically qualifies for NCAAs

February 26, 2006

NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College men's swimming and diving team matched its best New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship finish, placing fourth out of seven teams for the second straight year as the host institution at Balfour Natatorium this weekend.

The Lyons recorded 439.5 points and broke 11 school records during the meet, finishing behind the United States Coast Guard Academy, Springfield College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Wheaton's total was second only to its 503 points during the 2004 NEWMAC Championship.

Junior Barrett Roberts (Portland, ME/Deering) highlighted Wheaton's efforts on Friday, breaking an individual school mark and helping a pair of relay teams to program records. Roberts eclipsed his own 50-yard freestyle standard during the trials in 20.75 before nipping that time while winning the finals heat in 20.73. With each performance, Roberts provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship and broke his own NEWMAC Championship meet record.

The 200-yard freestyle relay team, comprised of Roberts, sophomore Matt Jordan (Ellsworth, ME/Ellsworth) and freshmen Chris Romilly (Washington, DC/Saint Albans) and T.J. Sponzo (Simsbury, CT/Avon Old Farms), also reached provisional qualifying status for the NCAA Championship with a school-record time of 1:24.75 during a fourth-place finish. Jordan, Roberts and Romilly sided with junior Matt Hurley (Belfast, ME/Belfast Area) as the 400-yard medley relay team placed fourth in a school-record time of 3:31.07. Sponzo also turned in a stellar individual effort, tying for fourth in the 50-yard free.

On Saturday, five more school records fell, including a pair during relay events. The quartet of Hurley, Jordan, Roberts and Romilly followed up Friday's record-setting performance by twice eclipsing a school record in the 200-yard medley relay while finishing first in 1:34.74 and reaching an NCAA provisional time. In the final event of the day, Wheaton's 800-yard freestyle foursome of Hurley, Sponzo, senior John Kuckens (West Hartford, CT/Hall) and sophomore Joe Fowler (Farmington, ME/Mount Blue) toppled a program record with a fifth-place finish in a time of 7:15.80.

Hurley surpassed a seven-year-old mark in the 50-yard breaststroke by swimming the first leg of his 100-yard breast final in 27.59, and Jordan swam the 50-yard backstroke portion of the 200-yard medley relay in 24.49. Fowler broke his own school mark in the 400-yard individual medley during both the trials and finals heats on his way to a fifth-place finish in 4:19.55. Jordan placed fourth among 100-yard backstroke competitors in 52.85 and provisionally qualified for the NCAA meet.

Roberts provided a pair of highlights during Sunday's 100-yard freestyle event, first breaking his own school record with a time of 45.52 and automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championship during the trials before coming from 0.21 seconds behind over the last 25 yards for a finals victory in 45.87. Roberts' automatic qualifying time was the first in program history for a Wheaton swimmer.

Jordan, Roberts, Romilly and Sponzo joined once more to break Wheaton's fifth relay record of the weekend, notching a 3:10.28 finish during the 400-yard freestyle relay. In his final collegiate meet, Kuckens broke a pair of program marks in the 1650-yard freestyle by shaving nearly 10 seconds off the old record for a 17:11.85 finish while recording a 1000-yard split time of 10:25.02. Jordan and Fowler came in fourth and fifth during the 200-yard backstroke, respectively, while Hurley notched a fifth-place showing among 200-yard breaststroke competitors.

The next stop for Roberts is the NCAA Division III Championship held at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis on March 16-18. Wheaton's provisional qualifiers await word on whether they will compete.

Following is a complete list of the top 16 individual and relay finishers for Wheaton over the three-day competition of the NEWMAC Championship:

Individual
Name Event Time Place
Barrett Roberts 50 freestyle 20.73*^ 1st
Barrett Roberts 100 freestyle 45.87^ 1st
Matt Hurley 100 breaststroke 1:00.15 3rd
Matt Jordan 100 backstroke 52.85^ 4th
Matt Jordan 200 backstroke 2:01.62 4th
T.J. Sponzo 50 freestyle 21.79 T-4th
Joe Fowler 200 backstroke 2:02.64 5th
Matt Hurley 200 breaststroke 2:13.27 5th
Joe Fowler 400 individual medley 4:19.55* 5th
Barrett Roberts 100 backstroke 55.03 6th
John Kuckens 1650 freestyle 17:11.85* 9th
Chris Romilly 100 backstroke 57.56 10th
Matt Hurley 200 individual medley 2:00.85 10th
T.J. Sponzo 100 freestyle 48.53 11th
Joe Fowler 1650 freestyle 17:33.41 11th
Ryan Patch 1650 freestyle 17:50.83 12th
Chris Romilly 50 freestyle 22.48 13th
Zach Hicks 1650 freestyle 17:54.33 13th
Zach Hicks 200 backstroke 2:10.00 13th
Chris Romilly 100 freestyle 49.11 14th
Zach Hicks 400 individual medley 4:37.06 14th
T.J. Sponzo 200 freestyle 1:48.61 15th
Matt Jordan 200 individual medley 2:08.53 15th
John Kuckens 500 freestyle 4:55.89 15th

Relay
Name Event Time Place
Jordan, Hurley, Romilly, Roberts 200 medley relay 1:34.74*^ 1st
Roberts, Jordan, Sponzo, Romilly 200 freestyle relay 1:24.75*^ 4th
Jordan, Sponzo, Romilly, Roberts 400 freestyle relay 3:10.28* 4th
Jordan, Hurley, Romilly, Roberts 400 medley relay 3:31.07* 4th
Kuckens, Sponzo, Fowler, Hurley 800 freestyle relay 7:15.80* 5th
Hurley, Pinkston, Patch, Kuckens 400 freestyle relay 3:20.51 10th
Pinkston, Tokcan, Patch, Maher 200 freestyle relay 1:34.68 11th
Fowler, Maher, Kuckens, Pinkston 200 medley relay 1:42.78 11th
Fowler, Maher, Kuckens, Sponzo 400 medley relay 3:43.84 11th
Patch, Maher, Hicks, Tokcan 800 freestyle relay 7:45.82 11th

* Denotes school record
^ NCAA national meet B standard

Complete Results

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