TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Franklin men's swimming and diving team brought their season to a close on Saturday (Feb. 15) with the final day of the 2025 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Championships.
 
The Grizzlies collected five more medals on the final day of competition and finished with 569 points overall, taking second place as a team.
 
Saturday Recap
Zachary Jackson-Blaine claimed Franklin's lone gold medal of the final day, winning the 100 free with a time of 46.50 and coming in just ahead of teammate and silver medalist Kaden Cummins, who finished with a time of 46.60. Will Johnson nabbed silver in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:57.01 and JC Chappell took bronze in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:05.90.
 
Franklin's final medal of the weekend came in the final event of the championship, with Jackson-Blaine, Johnson, Sam Hittel and Cummins taking silver in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:09.09.
 
Other finalist finishers on day four included Isaac Layton taking fourth in the 200 butterfly in 1:53.31, Tyler Wood placing fifth in the 200 breaststroke in 2:12.28 and seventh in the mile in 17:44.59, Nick Coy taking sixth in the mile in 17:36.07 and Hittel placing seventh in the 200 backstroke in 2:01.14.

Friday Recap
The Grizzlies collected their first medal of day three in the 200 medley relay, with Sam Hittel, JC Chappell, Owen Baker and Zachary Jackson-Blaine combining for a time of 1:32.92. Chappell and Hittel would go on to grab silver medals in individual events later in the night, with Chappell taking second in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 57.92 while Hittel took second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 52.60. 

Isaac Layton grabbed bronze in the 200 free with a time of 1:41.85 with Will Johnson earning a bronze in the 100 backstroke with a time of 53.07. Blaine narrowly missed a medal in the 100 butterfly with a time of 51.96 with Johnson claiming points in the finals of the 100 butterfly by taking seventh with a time of 52.38. 

Thursday Recap
The first record-setting program came in the 500 free, with freshman Isaac Layton taking second overall with a time of 4:36.15, breaking Noah Tallman's previous record time by two seconds. Bryson Howe just missed medaling in the 500 free, taking fourth place with a time of 4:48.12.
 
Zachary Jackson-Blaine claimed gold in the 50 free  with a winning time of 20.61 with sophomore Kaden Cummins taking silver in the same event with a time of 21.44 and Owen Baker placing sixth in the finals with a time of 21.83.
 
Senior JC Chappell placed third in the 200 IM with a time of 1:55.12 and freshman Sam Hittel took seventh in the 200 IM finals after hitting the finish line in 1:58.65.
 
The 200 free relay team of Jackson-Blaine, Baker, Cummins and Will Johnson claimed the Grizzlies' first relay win with a time of 1:23.95. Later in the night, the 400 medley relay of Hittel, Chappell, Layton and Jackson-Blaine earned silver with a time of 3:29.24.
 
Wednesday Recap
In the lone men's event of the night, the quartet of Layton, Howe, Hittel and Cummins claimed runner-up with a time of 6:59.62 in the championship race. Layton set a new program record in his 200 free leg with a time of 1:41.25, breaking the previous record of 1:41.78 held by Nolan Davis since 2022.
 
In the consolation race, Jacob Stauffer, Tyler Wood, Talan Andersch and Nick Coy picked up valuable points with a runner-up finish and a time of 7:26.89.