EWING, N.J. - The No. 15 TCNJ men's swimming team closed out the regular season in fine fashion, dominating after the first break to separate from No. 16 Franklin & Marshall for a 141-121 non-conference victory in a showdown of premier national programs.

Lukas Blach (500/1000 free), James McChesney (100/200 free), and Andrew Thompson (200 fly/200 IM) each grabbed a pair of individual victories for the Lions (5-2), who extended their streak of victories in home duals to seven and handed the Diplomats (10-1) their only dual loss of the winter.

The 1000 freestyle was a big win for the Lions, with a 1-2-3 finish. Blach took first (9:51.42), followed by teammates Ryan Higgins (9:53.05) and Ethan Laible (9:57.88). Higgins' time was the best of his collegiate career.

McChesney picked up a big win over F&M's Chris Schiavone in the 200 freestyle. McChesney touched the wall in 1:42.04 to edge out Schiavone, who came in with the 9th-fastest time in the country, at 1:42.88. Conrad Hoody nabbed third place for the Lions at 1:45.09.

Shawn Kushner placed second in the 100 breast at 58.29, with F&M's Tom Graminski narrowly edging out first place. Sullivan took third at 58.84.

Andrew Thompson put together a dominating swim in the 200 fly, taking 3.50 seconds off his best time of the season and cruising to first place in 1:54.16, more than six seconds ahead of F&M's Ryan Lawlor. Jonah Herring finished third with a time of 2:00.31 and Bryan Tran scored in fourth place (2:01.09).

The Diplomats managed to claim the top spot over TCNJ in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke. However, TCNJ still managed to get spots in the top three. Matt Watts finished second in the 50 freestyle (22.00), and Sean Rave placed third in the 100 back with a season-best 53.46.  

TCNJ trailed 66-65 at the first break, but took control after the intermission by edging out a pair of photo finishes in the 100 free and 200 breast as part of a run of four consecutive first-place swims. McChesney got the best of another showdown with Schiavone in the 100 freestyle. His first-place time was 45.54, just .05 seconds faster than Schiavone's. Going into the meet, Schiavone ranked 4th in Division III in the event, and McChesney was 13th. 

Kushner managed to take back first from Graminski in the 200 breaststroke. Kushner got the top spot with a time of 2:07.77, beating out Graminski's finishing time of 2:07.89. TCNJ's Ryan VanDeVeen finished third (2:10.34).

The Lions were able to gain even more separation from Ryan Higgins' victory in the 200 backstroke (1:54.07). Higgins easily outpaced F&M's Evan Willertz by nearly five full seconds in the event, and Herring also had a strong third-place finish (1:59.02). 

The 500 freestyle allowed Blach to get a second win for the meet (4:46.42). Blach was four seconds ahead of the Diplomats' Willem Stoll, who came in ranked 24th on the national performance list in the event. Laible again placed third in a freestyle race (4:51.08), only slightly behind Stoll (4:50.50).

Although the Lions missed out on the top spot in the 100 butterfly, Thompson and Jack Marble managed to secure the second- and third-place spots. Thompson finished at 50.65, close behind F&M's Brendan Cline (49.72), and Marble touched in 53.62.

Thompson was able to dominate once again in the 200 IM. He finished with a solid 1:54.79, beating out Tom Graminski (1:57.30). Higgins also placed in the 200 IM, finishing third (1:57.41).

TCNJ was a close second in the meet-opening 200 medley relay. F&M's relay team A was able to clinch first by a time of 1:32.28, with TCNJ's team of Rave, Sullivan, Thompson, and McChesney just behind at 1:32.96. 

TCNJ came up just short of victory again in the 400 freestyle relay. The group consisting of Dixon Kahler, Matt Watts, Blach, and McChesney finished with a time of 3:08.38, just behind F&M's top relay team.