Men's swimming and diving finishes fifth at NEWMAC Championship

March 2, 2008

CAMBRIDGE, MA- The Wheaton College men's swimming and diving team came within nine points of fourth place during this weekend's three-day New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship, as the Lyons accumulated 341 points and took fifth at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Zesiger Pool.

The United States Coast Guard Academy, which has won six of the 10 conference titles, captured its third straight crown behind 991 points. The hosts were second with 868 points, Springfield College third with 741 and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) fourth with 350.

Wheaton either broke or tied four school records, with freshman Eddie Gillie (Haverhill, MA/Saint John's Prep) playing a hand in two, including twice setting the standard in the 500-yard freestyle on Friday. Gillie first broke a four-year-old record in the trials at 4:53.33 before finishing 4:52.86 in the finals.

The Lyons posted a pair of fifth-place relay finishes in the 200-yard free and 400-yard medley events in day one. Freshmen Corey Best (Brentwood, TN/Ravenwood), Sam Dean-Lee (Rocky Hill, CT/Xavier Hill), Zach Fichman-Klein (North Attleboro, MA/North Attleboro) and Ben Sabol (Saint Petersburg, FL/Shorecrest Prep) comprised the 200-yard free relay foursome, while Best and Dean-Lee joined seniors Matt Hurley (Belfast, ME/Belfast Area) and Matt Jordan (Ellsworth, ME/Ellsworth) on the 400-yard medley relay quartet.

On Saturday, Hurley and Jordan each broke program marks, with Hurley notching a 50-yard breaststroke time of 27.57 during the 100 breast finals, which was 0.02 ticks faster than his two-year-old school record, and Jordan touching the wall in the 100-yard butterfly trials in 52.96. Hurley took fourth in the 100 breast in 1:00.13, which was 0.03 ticks off his three-year-old school mark, and he, Dean-Lee, Fichman-Klein and Jordan came in fourth in the 200-yard medley relay. Wheaton's top finish of the meet took place during the 100-yard backstroke, as Jordan's third-place result was one short of an all-conference citation. Dean-Lee, Gillie, Hurley and Jordan rounded out the day's top-five finishes by taking fifth in the 800-yard freestyle relay.

The Lyons were neck-and-neck with WPI entering the final day, trailing by a mere seven points following 13 events. Wheaton moved into the fourth slot with just three events to go, but WPI retook the lead for good in the meet's next event, the 200-yard butterfly. The Lyons were in striking distance prior to the championship's last race, trailing by just five points before falling just short.

On Sunday, Gillie tied a three-year-old school standard in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:00.29. Jordan posted a fifth-place result in the 200-yard backstroke, while he, Dean-Lee, Gillie and Hurley were also fifth during the 400-yard freestyle relay.

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
Matt Jordan 100 backstroke 53.27 3rd
Matt Hurley 100 breaststroke 1:00.13 4th
Matt Jordan 200 backstroke 1:59.96 5th
Eddie Gillie 400 individual medley 4:21.05 6th
Corey Best 400 individual medley 4:28.18 7th
Eddie Gillie 200 butterfly 2:00.29* 7th
Corey Best 200 butterfly 2:00.70 8th
Zach Fichman-Klein 200 backstroke 2:06.69 8th
Matt Hurley 200 breaststroke 2:14.39 8th
Eddie Gillie 500 freestyle 4:52.86* 10th
Matt Jordan 100 butterfly 53.75 11th
Corey Best 100 backstroke 56.97 12th
Sam Dean-Lee 1,650 freestyle 17:30.96 12th
Jonathan Gold 100 breaststroke 1:06.19 12th
Matt Hurley 200 individual medley 2:02.25 14th
Sam Dean-Lee 500 freestyle 5:00.20 15th
Zach Fichman-Klein 100 butterfly 54.57 15th
Jonathan Gold 200 breaststroke 2:27.48 15th

Relay
Name Event Time Place
Jordan, Hurley, Fichman-Klein, Dean-Lee 200 medley relay 1:36.93 4th
Sabol, Dean-Lee, Fichman-Klein, Best 200 freestyle relay 1:30.87 5th
Jordan, Hurley, Gillie, Dean-Lee 400 freestyle relay 3:17.22 5th
Dean-Lee, Hurley, Jordan, Gillie 800 freestyle relay 7:21.54 5th
Jordan, Hurley, Best, Dean-Lee 400 medley relay 3:35.73 5th
Fichman-Klein, Gold, Gillie, Sabol 400 medley relay 3:46.52 10th
Sabol, Gold, Best, Gillie 200 medley relay 1:44.43 11th
Fichman-Klein, Best, Sabol, Gold 400 freestyle relay 3:29.23 12th
Fichman-Klein, Sabol, Gold, Ahern 800 freestyle relay 8:09.20 12th

* Denotes set or tied school record

Complete Results

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