By Brenden Kelley
Correspondent
The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams celebrated their 2024 senior class Saturday afternoon in a dual meet against Montclair State University.
The men's team honored seniors Ethan Dong, Ethan Laible, Jack Marble and James McChesney. The women’s team honored seniors Sarah Burton and Mackenzie Wall.
The No. 12 men's team looked to follow up a dominant win over Rowan and continue their strong season in the final dual meet of the season against the Montclair State Red Hawks. Junior Ethan Wiess set a new program record for the 3-meter six dive with a score of 381.23, beating a 12-year record held by TJ Burns. Wiess also scored the top marks on the 1-meter six dives with a score of 330.98.
The 200 yard medley was won by the quartet of seniors McChesney, Dong, Marble and Dixon Kahler, recording a time of 1:35.96.
Junior Ryan Higgins had a dominant meet, winning the 1000 yard freestyle with a time of 9:51.95, 28 seconds faster than second place. Higgins also won the 200 yard backstroke with a time of 1:51.91.
The Lions were able to sweep the 200 yard freestyle and the 100 yard freestyle by placing first, second and third. The 200 yard freestyle was won by sophomore Gavin Formon with a time of 1:45.32. Junior Shawn Kushner came in second with a time of 1:46.76, followed by fellow junior Ryan Vandeveen who recorded a time of 1:47.93.
The 100 yard freestyle was determined by tenths of a second and was won by sophomore Richard Park with a time of 48.04. He edged out fellow sophomores Andrew Kidchob and Brian Bull, who recorded times of 48.42 and 48.65, respectively.
The men’s team walked away with a 181-114 win over the Red Hawks to bring their regular season record to 7-2.
The women's team had a strong showing despite their loss. Sophomore Beth Evaldi scored the top marks on both the 3-meter six dives and the 1-meter six dives.
Freshman Lilliana Kuball had a strong meet. She placed first in the 100 yard breaststroke, recording a time of 1:08.22. Kuball also placed second in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 55.56.
Senior Sarah Burton also had an impressive meet, placing in the top three on three individual events and getting second in the 400 medley freestyle with a time of 3:57.81. Burton also placed second in a 400 individual medley exhibition event, recording a time of 4:58.91.
Ultimately, the Red Hawks came out on top 160-126 to bring the Lions record on the regular season record to 1-6.
With the regular season now over for the Lions, the next meet for both the men and women will be the NJAC Championships at the University of Maryland from Feb. 15-18. The Lions have high hopes for the meet, aiming to continue their dominant season.
