Waterville, ME
2/22/2026


The Colby Mules Swimming and Diving team finished up the NESCAC Championships on Sunday with more school records falling in the final two days. The team finished in 9th place overall in a very strongly contested meet over the 4 days. Overall The Mules achieved 7 school records, 38 additions to the all time top 20 lists and 50 lifetime best swims.

Saturday started off strong as the 200 Medley Relay team of Brandon Xiong, Alexander MacLennan, Alex Ruckel-Bekefi and Ethan Chang swam to an 8th place finish which was also the 3rd fastest time in Colby Swimming history. The 1000 Freestyle came next and first year Brendan Kirberger got his second school record of the meet with a 5th place finish in 9:17.09. This time broke the old school record by 4 seconds. Also in the 1000, Matthew Church placed 12th (9:35.06) for 3rd place in Colby history and Curtis Johnson swam to a 24th place finish (9:53.31) which is 10th all time at Colby.

In the 100 Butterfly, three of the top 4 performers in Colby swimming history all scored in the finals. They were led by Brandon Morrison who placed 7th with the second fastest time in school history (48.78 p). Ruckel-Bekefi placed 10th (49.24 p) with the third fastest time and Skylar Yoham got 18th with Colby's 4th fastest time (50.12.) Amaan Siddiqui next swam the 200 Freestyle and placed 11th overall. The 100 Breaststroke saw another 3 Mules scoring with MacLennan getting 16th with the second fastest time in Colby history (56.46), Noam Reinhorn getting 21st (57.14 - 7th in school history) and Shepard Kerscher getting 24th (57.51 p 9th all time.)

The final event of the day saw another podium finish and school record for Xiong. In the 100 backstroke he place 3rd over all with an NCAA 'B" cut time of 48.68.

Two more school records would fall on Sunday for the Mules. Kirberger started it off in the 1650 Freestyle with his 3rd school record of the meet. His time of 15:41.97 is an NCAA 'B' cut, earned him 3rd place overall in the meet and shattered the school record by 12 seconds. Church placed 7th overall in the event with a 16:03.27 and 4th place in Colby history. In the 200 backstroke Breacan Shea put up the 7th fastest time in Colby history (1:53.85) with a 21st place finish. He was joined by Noam Reinhorn who finished in 22nd. Xiong swam to a 16th place finish in the 100 Freestyle and was joined by Todd Siekman who placed 19th with the 10th fastest swim (45.94 p) in Mules history. 

MacLennan scored in the 200 Breaststroke with a 17th place finish. In the final individual race of the meet, Brandon Morrison would swim to another school record as he finished 5th overall with an NCAA 'B' cut time of 1:48.54. Also scoring in the race were Yoham at 22nd and Ruckel-Bekefi at 23rd. The final event of the meet, the 400 Freestyle Relay was another strong one for Colby as the team of Siddiqui, Xiong, Chang and Siekman got 7th overall with the 2nd fastest time in Mules history.

Overall a great meet for the Mules with some incredible performances and a great way to finish the season. Seniors Chang, Nano Chon, MacLennan, Reinhorn and Xiong were honored as well on Saturday for their contributions to the team and all that they have brought over their 4 seasons.

Next up: Selection for the NCAA Championship meet on Wednesday