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Indianapolis, IN … For the first time in the history of The College of New Jersey men's swimming and diving program, a Lions' relay team can call itself NCAA Division III National Champions.

The relay team of sophomore Joseph Dunn (Fanwood, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood), senior Philip Hawley (Eastampton, NJ/Rancocas Valley), junior Brett Pedersen (Sewell, NJ/St. Augstine Prep), and senior Stephen Gibson (Sewell, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) captured the national title in the 200-freestyle relay. They posted a program record time of 1:20.47, besting runner-up Emory University by nearly half-a-second to top the field of eight in the championship heat.

Dunn led off the race and swam his leg in 20.74 followed by Hawley, who clocked 20.07. Pedersen blazed to a time of 19.95 before Gibson anchored with the fastest time of the event, finishing in 19.71.

The first-place finish was no fluke as TCNJ was the top seed entering the championship final race. They won the preliminary heat with a finish of 1:20.83 earlier in the day.

The championship title is the third overall in TCNJ men's swimming and diving program history. Matt Stoll won the national title in the 200-breaststroke in 1994 and Steve Swenson won the 100-breast title in 2006. The best relay finish for the Lions at the NCAA championships was third place in 2008 by Shawn Kircher, Myles O'Connor, Josh Forman, and Tom Nawrot.

Following the historic race by the relay squad, senior Stephen Tarnowski (Ramstein, Germany/Ramstein American) placed third nationally in the 200-free event. It was the best placement in the tremendous career for Tarnowski and his second All-American honor in an individual event at the 2014 NCAA Division III National Championships. It's the sixth All-American citation in his career.

Tarnowski posted a time of 1:37.68 to finish second runner-up. Austin Caldwell of Kenyon won the title in 1:37.16 and Carlos Maciel of Denison University finished second in 1:37.59.

In the preliminary race, Tarnowski broke the program record previously held by Mike Vernoia '10 since 2009. Tarnowski touched the wall in 1:37.35 to post the fastest time amongst 44 competitors who qualified for nationals.

The final leg of an epic day came in the 400-medley relay consolation final. Junior Aleksander Burzynski (Colonia, NJ/St. Joseph's), sophomore James Shangle (Highland Park, NJ/Highland Park), sophomore Joseph Dunn (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood), and Pedersen finished third in the heat and 11^th overall nationally. They raced to a 3:19.43 finish as the foursome earned All-American Honorable Mention citations.

Dunn finished one spot outside of qualifying for the consolation final in the 100-butterfly event. He placed 17^th nationally with a time of 49.43.

Four Lions will compete in individual events tomorrow along with the 800-freestyle relay. Burzynski and freshman Jin Roh (Tenafly, NJ/Tenafly) will compete in the 100-backstroke event. Freshman Scott Vitabile (East Windsor, NJ/Hightstown) will take to the blocks in the 200-butterfly and Shangle will race in the 100-breaststroke. Tarnowski, Vitabile, junior Brian Perez (Matawan, NJ/St. John Vianney), and freshman Ryan Gajdzisz (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood) are the projected swimmers in the 800-free relay.

TCNJ currently stands in sixth place overall midway through the championships with 101 points.

Thursday results

Team scores

Friday heat sheet