Cambridge, Mass. – February 25, 2024 - The Springfield College men's swimming and diving team finished sixth overall at the 2024 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships, which were hosted inside the Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center Pool on the campus of MIT.

Springfield tallied 519 points over the course of the four day championship meet. Host MIT won the team title once again with 1483.5 points, Coast Guard finished second (896), WPI finished third (825), Babson took fourth (740.5), Wheaton finished fifth (532) and Clark finished seventh (221).

For his efforts at the championship meet, first-year Christian Butler (North Haven, Conn.) was named as the NEWMAC Men's Diver of the Year.

Day Four Finals Highlights - Complete Results

Chan had the best individual finish on Sunday night as he took third in the 200-fly in 1:53.14. Behind Chan in the 200-fly was Douglass in ninth (1:59.44) and Carey in 20th (2:07.50). In the 100-free, Backlund took ninth (46.15) and Zonghetti finished 15th (47.14), while Tang took 14th in the 200-breast (2:10.19). 

Goolsbey had a strong showing in the 1650-free with a sixth place finish in 16:29.40, while three entries for the Pride in the 200-back had Gutierrez in 10th (1:57.23), Sherlock in 18th (2:04.31) and Carey in 20th (2:10.45). 

In the meet's final event - the 400-free relay - Chan, Zonghetti, McMillan and Backlund recorded a fifth place finish with a time of 3:04.79.

Day Three Finals Highlights - Day Three Finals Results

Butler claimed gold on the 1-meter board on Saturday evening with a finals score of 527.40 points, which was 125 points higher than the second place finisher from WPI. Earlier this weekend, the first-year registered a first place score of 530.65 on the 3-meter board.

On Saturday night, Springfield had two student-athletes post wins in the "B" finals of their respective events. Zonghetti finished 11th overall in the 100-fly in 50.12, while McMillan was 11th in the 100-back in 52.49. Chan paced the Pride with a sixth place finish in the 100-fly in 49.41, while Backlund took 13th in the event in 50.96 and Gutierrez placed 16th in the 100-back in 54.18.

Gutierrez (14th - 4:13.01), Douglass (16th - 4:14.81) and Tang (19th - 4:20.92) all represented the Pride in the 400-IM "B" final, Goolsbey (18th - 1:46.61) and Lubas (20th - 1:52.70) represented Springfield in the 200-free "B" final and Tang took 13th in the 100-breast in 58.76.

The 200-medley relay of McMillan, Nguyen, Chan and Zonghetti registered a fifth place finish with a time of 1:33.44 to cap Saturday's evening's session.

Day Three Prelim Highlights - Day Three Prelim Results

Chan was the lone individual swimmer for the Pride to qualify for the "A" finals on Saturday night as he posted the fifth fastest prelim time in the 100-fly in 49.71. Backlund (51.20) and Zonghetti (51.44) will compete in the "B" finals of the 100-fly, while Tang will be the only swimmer for Springfield in the 100-breast tonight as he clocked a 1:00.32 for a spot in the "B" finals.

Douglass (4:18.20), Gutierrez (4:18.72) and Tang )4:23.90) will all compete in the "B" finals of the 400-IM, while Goolsbey (1:46.33) and Lubas (1:53.91) will compete in the "B" finals of the 200-free and McMillan (53.68) and Gutierrez (54.20) will compete in the "B" finals of the 100-back.

McMillan, La, Tang and Goolsbey clocked a time of 1:40.69 in the 200-medley relay prelims and will compete in the "A" final tonight, while Sherlock, Studley, Carey and Lubas posted a 1:42.62 and will appear in the "B" final of the nights final event.

Day Two Finals Highlights - Day Two Finals Results 

Backlund had the best individual finish of the night for the Pride as he took third in the 50-free with a time of 20.63, while Zonghetti won the "B" final of the 50-free in 21.25. Goolsbey finished 10th overall in the 500-free in 4:47.03 and Chan took 13th in the 200-IM in 1:54.94.

The 200-free relay of Backlund, Nguyn, McMillan and Zonghetti finished sixth overall in 1:25.40, while the 400-medley relay of Gutierrez, Tang, Chan and Backlund also took sixth in the "A" final tonight in 3:28.62.

Day Two Prelim Highlights - Day Two Prelim Results

During prelims on Friday morning, Springfield five six individuals and "A" and "B" relays for both the 200-free relay and 400-medley relay qualify for tonight's finals session.

Goolsbey and McMillan will represent Springfield in the 500-free "A" and "B" finals, respectively, as the clocked times of 4:43.80 and 4:52.73 this morning, while Chan will swim in the "B" final of the 200-IM after a swim of 1:55.00. Backlund and Zonghetti will round out the individual swims tonight in the 50-free as they posted times of 20.54 and 21.31 this morning.

Backlund, sophomore Viet-Anh Nguyen (East Longmeadow, Mass.), McMillan and Zonghetti posted a 1:23.96 this morning in the 200-free relay and will swim in the "A" final tonight, while senior Chris Carey (Franklin, Mass.), sophomore Spencer Studley (Meriden, Conn.), first-year Will Lubas (Newington, Conn.) and Douglass will swim in the "B" final after a time of 1:31.99 earlier today. First-year Gerold Gutierrez (Milford, Conn.), Nguyen, Tang and Lubas will take on the "A" final of the 400-medley relay after a 3:37.51 in prelims, while sophomore Jon Sherlock (West Chester, Pa.), first-year Colin La (Agawam, Mass.), senior Damian Gilrein (Hampden, Mass.) and first-year Tyler Nason (Holden, Mass.) will swim in the "B" final of the 400-free relay after a 3:54.18 this morning.

Day One Highlights - Day One Results 

First-year Christian Butler (North Haven, Conn.) highlighted the efforts for the Pride tonight as in his debut at the NEWMAC Championships, he claimed gold on the 3-meter board with a score of 530.65. Butler produced two NCAA Division III Regional qualifying scores as he notched a 534.10 in prelims and then won with the 530.65, which was over 100 points ahead of the second place finisher from WPI.

In the 800-free relay, both the "A" squad and "B" quartet notched fifth place finishes in their respective heats. 

Springfield's "A" relay of junior Jonathan Chan (Hong Kong), sophomore Dan Backlund (Duxbury, Mass.), junior Luke Zonghetti (Tolland, Conn.) and junior Jordon McMillan (Maraval, Trinidad and Tobago) clocked a time of 6:55.92 for 36 points towards the Pride's score, while the "B" relay of first-year Zavier Villanueva (Wilbraham, Mass.), sophomore Rocky Tang (Hong Kong), junior Ryan Goolsbey (East Lyme, Conn.) and junior Brian Douglass (Wilbraham, Mass.) posted a time of 7:10.52 for 12 additional points.

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