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Sophomore K.J. Kroetch broke her own school record in the 50 backstroke
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WILLIAMSTOWN - The Tufts University women's swimming & diving team placed third at the 2011 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship meet hosted by Williams College over the weekend. The Jumbos scored 1,226 points to match 2009's third-place effort as the best by the team in the 2000's.
Jumbo competitors broke four records and swam many NCAA national B cut times at the meet. Williams College won its 11th consecutive conference title on Sunday as the Ephs posted a record-breaking 1,961 points over the three-day event. Following Williams was Amherst, which finished as the runner-up for the third year in a row with 1,637 points.
On the first day of competition Friday, Coach Nancy Bigelow's Jumbos began by breaking one school record and recording six national qualifying times. Senior tri-captain Megan Kono (LaGrange, IL) was fifth in the 500 freestyle with a 5:02.43 B-cut time, shaving four-tenths of a second off her qualify preliminary time. Sophomore Christine Garvey (West Chester, PA) also swam a qualifying time of 5:05.49 in the event, also improving on her B cut run from the prelims.
Tufts recorded two national B-cut times in the 400 medley relay. In the final, first year Andrea Coniglio (Paramus, NJ), first year Jenny Hu (Oakland, CA), first year Mia Greenwald (Park City, UT) and junior Courtney Adams (Lake Forest, IL) were sixth with an NCAA mark of 3:58.38 (just .12 off the school record). Also on Friday, Hu was third in the 50 breaststroke final (30.47) and sophomore K.J. Kroetch (Lafayette, CA) broke her own school record in the 50 backstroke with a time of 28.30 seconds. Garvey set school record in the 200 fly with a 2:08.67 that she did in a time trial on Friday.
Saturday was the most successful Tufts day, with three new school records and 11 NCAA B-cut qualifiers. Hu was the conference runner-up with a school-record and national B-cut time of 1:06.28 in the 100 breaststroke. Teammate Ellen Gage (Storrs, CT) also had a B-cut (1:07.52) in the event. Kono was also second in the 1,000 freestyle, her 10:24.33 time breaking her own school record. In the 200 medley relay, the Tufts time of 1:47.84 was also a school record, an NCAA B-cut and third-best at the meet. That foursome was Kroetch, Hu, Greenwald and Adams. Kroetch re-broke her school record leading off the 200MR with a 28.17.
Greenwald then broke teammate Valerie Eacret's (Goleta, CA) record in the 100 butterfly with a 56.95 time that was third at the meet and an NCAA B-cut. The 800 free relay foursome of Kono, Garvey, Adams and sophomore Lizz Grainger (Nashville, TN) posted an NCAA B-cut of 7:43.81 for fourth place. Adams' 1:54.54 was a qualifier in the 200 freestyle, while Garvey had a 4:35.49 B-cut time in the 400 individual medley.
Kono and Garvey added two more NCAA B-cuts on Sunday. Kono was third in the 1,650 free with 17:19.60 qualifying speed. Garvey timed 2:09.08 for an NCAA provisional in the 200 butterfly. First year diver Sami Bloom (Wilton, CT) was fourth in the three-meter event with a 374.05 score.
The Jumbos will now await word on which of their qualifying marks make it into the NCAA Championships in Tennessee March 23-26.
Championship Results
KJ Kroetch re-broke her school record leading off the 200MR with a 28.17
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