PITMAN, NJ --- The College of New Jersey senior Ryan Higgins (River Edge, NJ/River Dell Regional) has been selected as the NJAC’s Swimmer of the Year to highlight the 2024-25 NJAC Men’s Swimming & Diving All-Conference Team. Additionally, senior teammate Ethan Weiss (Wrightstown, NJ/Northern Burlington) was named NJAC Diver of the Year for the third time and Lion sophomore Steven Bendoraitis (New Milford, NJ/New Milford) was selected NJAC Rookie of the Year. TCNJ completed the sweep as head coach David Dow and his staff were voted the NJAC Coaching Staff of the Year.
 
Major awards were voted on by the league’s nine head coaches and took the entire 2024-25 body of work into account. The all-conference team was determined by place finish at the NJAC Championship meet.
 
Higgins put together an outstanding senior season, culminating in winning two First Team All-America honors and two Second Team All-America accolades at the NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships. He placed fourth overall in the 200 backstroke and sixth overall in the 400 individual medley for First Team honors. He also finished 10th in the 200 IM and helped TCNJ’s 800 freestyle relay to 13th overall. The two-time NJAC Swimmer of the Week swept the 200 and 400 individual medleys at the NJAC Championships while adding a gold medal in the 200 back and a silver in the 800 free relay. He set a new championship meet record in the 200 back and owns both individual medley records set in 2024. Higgins also posted the fourth-fastest 200 back time in D3 this season, the seventh-fastest 400 IM time, and 12th-fastest 200 IM time.
 
Weiss earned the conference’s top diving honor for the third time in his four years. He won NJAC gold on the 1-meter board, setting a new championship meet record of 490.10 points, and silver on the 3-meter board. He posted the highest combined championship scores among all NJAC divers. Weiss placed sixth in a packed field at the NCAA Diving Regionals, behind five divers who went on to earn All-America honors, and was the first alternate to nationals. A four-time NJAC Diver of the Week this season, Weiss owned the highest 1-meter 11-dive point total (612.07) in NCAA Division III this season, set at the Franklin and Marshall Invitational. He also posted the seventh-highest 1-meter 6-dive score - his 490.10 at NJACs - and the ninth-highest 3-meter 6-dive score in D3.
 
Bendoraitis made an immediate impact in his first collegiate season in the pool. He competed in the NCAA Championships in four events, garnering Second Team All-America honors in both the 500 freestyle and as part of TCNJ’s 800 freestyle relay. He placed 12th overall in the 500 free and helped the relay to 13th overall. At the NJAC Championships, Bendoraitis won the conference’s 1650 freestyle title. He also picked up a silver medal in the 200 freestyle and bronze in the 500 freestyle. He posted two times that were among D3’s top 20 fastest of the season, with the 11th-ranked time in the 1650 free and 16th-fastest 500 free time.
 
TCNJ’s coaching staff of David Dow, Eric Blevins, Webster Bozzo, and Steven Paterno were voted the Coaching Staff of the Year by their peers. They guided the Lions to the team title at the NJAC Championship, with the team accumulating 1,714 points which was 524 higher than second place. Their squad picked up 12 gold, 10 silver, and five bronze medals, and then went on to place 17th at the NCAA Championships with seven different Lions earning at least one All-America honor.
 

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Event	First Team	Second Team	Honorable Mention
50 Freestyle	MJ Hoban TCNJ	Jack Watson Rowan	Mason Potts Salisbury
100 Freestyle	Jack Watson Rowan	Daniel Scherrer Merchant Marine	MJ Hoban TCNJ
200 Freestyle	Toby Cahnbley Rowan	Steven Bendoraitis TCNJ	Shane Hall Salisbury
500 Freestyle	Toby Cahnbley Rowan	Gavin Formon TCNJ	Steven Bendoraitis TCNJ
1650 Freestyle	Steven Bendoraitis TCNJ	Gavin Formon TCNJ	Gavin Danze Rowan
100 Backstroke	Jack Watson Rowan	Andrew Kidchob TCNJ	Ryan McOsker Merchant Marine
200 Backstroke	Ryan Higgins TCNJ	Andrew Walter TCNJ	Teague Mayer Merchant Marine
100 Butterfly	Joe McChesney TCNJ	Daniel Scherrer Merchant Marine	Mason Potts Salisbury
200 Butterfly	Alex Volin Rowan	Chris Knorr Salisbury	Pablo Salazar TCNJ
100 Breaststroke	Ryan Vandeveen TCNJ	Sam Roundtree Mary Washington	Tyler McGeehan TCNJ
200 Breaststroke	Ryan Vandeveen TCNJ	Shawn Kushner TCNJ	Riley Williams Roger Williams
200 Individual Medley	Ryan Higgins TCNJ	Riley Williams Roger Williams	Teague Mayer Merchant Marine
400 Individual Medley	Ryan Higgins TCNJ	Gavin Formon TCNJ	Riley Williams Roger Williams
1-Meter Diving	Ethan Weiss TCNJ	Michael Wu TCNJ	Brendan Griffiths Merchant Marine
3-Meter Diving	Thomas Cable Merchant Marine	Ethan Weiss TCNJ	Michael Wu TCNJ
200 Free Relay	TCNJ Joe McChesney, Andrew Kidchob, Bradley Frank, MJ Hoban	Roger Williams Seth Sutton, Vince Tarolli, Riley Williams, Blake Anderson	Salisbury Michael DeSimone, Mason Potts, Themo Rigakos, Aidan Loehr
400 Free Relay	Salisbury Mason Potts, Michael DeSimone, Themo Rigakos, Owen Brewer	Rowan Jack Watson, Toby Cahnbley, Braden Sheehan, Josh Oliveira	Merchant Marine Daniel Scherrer, Matthew Wachendorfer, John Frank, Ryan McOsker
800 Free Relay	Rowan Jack Watson, Braden Sheehan, Alex Volin, Toby Cahnbley	TCNJ Keilan Moran, Brian Bull, Gavin Formon, Ryan Higgins	Salisbury Owen Brewer, Shane Hall, Brody Hanlon, Kyle Skelly
200 Medley Relay	TCNJ Andrew Kidchob, Ryan VanDeVeen, Joe McChesney, MJ Hoban	Rowan Jack Watson, Gavin Luong, Alex Volin, Toby Cahnbley	Salisbury Mason Potts, Gabe Miksa, Owen Brewer, Michael DeSimone
400 Medley Relay	TCNJ Andrew Kidchob, Ryan VanDeVeen, Joe McChesney, MJ Hoban	Salisbury Mason Potts, Brady Wolf, Chris Knorr, Owen Brewer	Rowan Jack Watson, TJ Moderski, Alex Volin, Braden Sheehan