NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – For the second year in a row, the TCNJ men's swimming and diving team dominated the Metropolitan Conference championships to claim the program's 20^th team title at the conference meet.  

The Lions won the meet convincingly with a team score of 1,696 points throughout a weekend that looked every bit as dominant as the final tally indicated. In total, TCNJ broke seven total school records, two meet records, hit double digit 'B-Cut' qualifying times (plus one big 'A-Cut' time) and won 15 total events.

TCNJ also swept the post-meet awards ceremony, beginning with Sean Rave taking home the Outstanding Senior Award. Star freshman Gavin Formon was named the METs Rookie of the Meet, Ethan Weiss received the METs Diver of the Meet award and James McChesney deservingly was named the METs Swimmer of the Meet.

After capturing his second straight title, head coach David Dow was named the men's Swimming Coach of the Year and Eric Blevins won the Diving Coach of the Year for both men's and women's.

To begin action in the final session of the weekend, the Lions showed once again that they were a cut above the field by claiming the top four finishers of the mile/1650 Free. The pack of Gavin Formon, Lukas Blach, Brian Bull and Ethan Laible each clocked 'B-Cut' times.

The Diver of the Meet led the group by breaking school records in not only the mile itself, but also the 1,000 free record in the process. Formon's record-setting mile time of 15:42.45 shattered Ryan Gajdzisz's time of 15:47.23 set in 2015. The freshman's 1,000 free split of 9:31:00 also broke Gajdzisk's record set in the same season.

Finishing in second, Blach clocked the third-fastest mile time in Lions history at 15:50.84. In third, Bull set a new career-best mark of 16:07.33. Rounding out the pack, Laible also set a new personal record with a time of 16:11.74.

The Lions kept winning in the 200 Back, with Ryan Higgins taking gold with a time of 1:48.87. The sophomore narrowly missed out on the school record time of 1:48.29 twice on the day, with the first coming during the prelims when Higgins set a new personal-best of 1:48.66.

The duo of Andrew Walter and Jonah Herring finished in third and fourth with times of 1:51.72 and 1:52.17, respectively.

Closing out a perfect weekend in the sprint freestyle events, junior James McChesney cruised his way to a golden finish when he touched the wall in 44.07 seconds. The time stood nearly two seconds better than second place, which is an eternity in the sprints.

The sophomore duo of Ryan VanDeVeen and Shawn Kushner took the top-two spots in the 200 Breast for the Lions. VanDeVeen won the event with the second-fastest program time at 2:00.76, while Kushner swam a new season-best time of 2:01.91 to touch right behind him. The performance gave Kushner a 'B-Cut' qualifying mark.

To close out the meet, the 400 Free Relay team finished in spectacular fashion as James McChesney anchored a come from behind victory. With Rowan comfortably in first at the exchange, the junior ate up the lead almost as quickly as he entered the water. The Lions clocked just under the three-minute mark with the fourth-fastest time in program history at 2:59.59.

Next up, the Lions will prepare for the national stage with the NCAA Diving Regionals set for next week and the NCAA Division III Championships scheduled in about a month's time.