PITMAN, N.J. – The TCNJ men's swimming and diving team swept all four major conference awards and had 16 student-athletes garner All-NJAC honors, as released by the conference this morning.
Ryan Higgins (Swimmer of the Year),
Ethan Weiss (Diver of the Year) and
Steven Bendoraitis (Rookie of the Year) took home the NJAC's major individual awards, with Dave Dow, Eric Blevins, Webster Bozzo and Steven Paterno being named the Coaching Staff of the Year to complete the sweep for the second time in three seasons.
Higgins was tabbed the Swimmer of the Year for the first time in his career following a dominant senior campaign. In his final season with the Lions, Higgins took the top spot in the 200m backstroke, 200m medley and 400m medley in the NJAC Championship meet before capping his year with four All-American finishes – pushing his career total to seven – at the NCAA Championships.
Weiss is now a three-time NJAC Diver of the Year, joining TJ Burns as the only other TCNJ athlete to achieve the feat. The senior finished first in the 1-meter dive and second in the 3-meter dive at NJACs before placing sixth in both events at NCAA Regionals en route to the conference honors.
Bendoraitis is the fifth TCNJ swimmer in the last six years to win NJAC Rookie of the Year. The selection comes after the sophomore won the 1650 free at this year's conference meet and earned Second Team All-American status in both the 500 free and as part of TCNJ's 800 free relay team at NCAAs.
Dow, Blevins, Bozzo and Paterno were named the Coaching Staff of the Year for the fourth time in the last five seasons after leading the Lions to the program's second straight NJAC title and a 17th-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
INDIVIDUAL HONORS
- Higgins - First Team 200 back, 200 IM, 400 IM
- Bendoraitis - First Team 1650 free; Second Team 200 free, Honorable Mention 500 free
- Weiss - First Team 1-meter dive; Second Team 3-meter dive
- Ryan VanDeVeen - First Team 100 breast, 200 breast
- M.J. Hoban - First Team 50 free; Honorable Mention 100 free
- Joe McChesney - First Team 100 fly
- Gavin Formon - Second Team 500 free, 1650 free, 400 IM
- Andrew Kidchob - Second Team 100 back
- Andrew Walter - Second Team 200 back
- Shawn Kushner - Second Team 200 breast
- Pablo Salazar - Honorable Mention 200 fly
- Tyler McGeehan - Honorable Mention 100 breast
- Michael Wu - Second Team 1-meter dive; Honorable Mention 3-meter dive
ALL-NJAC RELAY TEAMS
- 200 free relay (McChesney, Kidchob, Bradley Frank, Hoban) - First Team
- 200 medley relay (Kidchob, VanDeVeen, McChesney, Hoban) - First Team
- 400 medley relay (Kidchob, VanDeVeen, McChesney, Hoban) - First Team
- 800 free relay (Keilan Moran, Brian Bull, Formon, Higgins) - Second Team
