EWING, N.J. – On senior day, the No. 14 TCNJ Men's swimming and diving team claimed the 2022-23 NJAC Championship after defeating Rowan, 161.50-100.50, in the TCNJ Aquatic Center Saturday afternoon. The conference crown marks the Lions' first since the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season and the first full-season championship since the 2015-16 season.

Before the meet began, the Lions honored the seven athletes of the 2023 senior class during the annual senior day celebration. The seven Lions honored were: Conrad Hoody, Alex Johnson, Dixon Kahler, Sean Rave, Patrick Sullivan, Matt Watts, and Tommy Zdroik. Among many accomplishments, the class played a pivotal role in last season's Metropolitan Conference Championship winning team.

TCNJ kicked off the meet strong, winning the 200 medley relay with a first place time of 1:33.09. The relay consisted of Andrew Kidchob, Ryan VanDeVeen, Richard Park, and Kahler.

The Lions took three of the top four spots in the 1000 free. Freshman Gavin Formon finished second with a sub-10 time of 9:50.02 to lead the Lions. He was followed by junior Ethan Laible and sophomore Lukas Blach whom placed in third and fourth place, respectively. The freshman would follow up his performance with a top-place finish in the 500 free, with Formon taking the win in 4:43.26.

In the 200 free, junior James McChesney snagged his first event victory of the day after clocking a 1:43.80. He followed up with another first-place finish in the 100 free, sprinting to a time of 47.11. The All-American clinched his third individual event victory in the 100 fly, in which he touched the wall in 50.57 to narrowly beat out second place.

A spectacular finished occurred in the 50 free sprint, as Kahler tied with Rowan's Paul Riter for first place, with both swimmers touching the wall at exactly 21.67 seconds.

Sophomore Ryan VanDeVeen had a dominant day in both breaststroke events, first winning the 100 race with a top time of 57.66, before also clinching the top 200 time in 2:06.24. Shawn Kushner took third in both events with times of 59.23 and 2:10.56.

Fellow sophomore Ryan Higgins also saw two first-place finishes in the 200 back and 200 IM. Higgins outpaced the field in the backstroke with a time of 1:53.23, before winning the IM in 1:56.36.

Senior Matt Watts finished third in the 200 free after clocking a 1:45.57.

The 100 back saw Kidchob lead TCNJ with a second-place time of 50.74. The freshman also finished second in the 200 back, with a time of 1:54.89.
In the 200 fly, senior Conrad Hoody finished third in a time of 1:59.34.

The Lions closed out the meet strong in the 400 free relay, winning the event in a time of 3:08.95. The relay consisted of Richard Park, Kahler, Watts, and anchored by McChesney.

The postseason officially begins for TCNJ in three weeks when the Lions compete in the Metropolitan Conference Championships at Rutgers University. The four-day meet weekend is scheduled to begin on Thursday, Feb. 16, and concludes on Sunday, Feb. 19.