SHENANDOAH, TX - The Tufts women's swimming 800 freestyle relay foursome combined for a school-record 7:39.61 time on Friday morning at the NCAA Championship meet to earn 16th in the event overall. That highlighted four days of NCAA action for the Jumbos.
With a line-up of senior Christine Garvey (West Chester, PA), sophomore Samantha Sliwinski (Weymouth, MA), senior Lizz Grainger (Nashville, TN), and sophomore anchor Kathryn Coniglio (Branchburg, NJ), the Tufts 800 free relay was over a second in front of a Stevens Tech foursome (7:40.92) to take eighth in their heat. Coniglio's 1:54.58 200 leg was the best by the Jumbos. The 2013 time broke the four-year old school record of 7:42.11 set in 2009.
Another heat was contested in the evening and the top 16 were determined out of the two races.
With their 16th place finish, the Tufts relay earns honorable mention All-American honors (finishers 9-16). Sliwinski is now a three-time honorable mention All-American honoree, including last season when she took part in Tufts' 14th-place 200 and 400 medley relays. Each of the other three Jumbos are first-time honorable mention All-Americans.
The 800 free relay was the only event in which Tufts scored team points at the NCAA's. Their two points as a team tied for 51st at the meet.
The Jumbos finished their week in Texas with another school record in the 400 free relay. Sliwinski swam a 52.71 to lead off and was followed by Grainger, Garvey, and Coniglio to finish with a 3:32.19 time. That was a bit faster than last season's 3:32.91 time that Grainger, Garvey, and Sliwinski were a part of. The Jumbos were 20th in the event this season.
On Friday, Garvey narrowly missed getting into the top 16 and broke her own school record in the 200-yard butterfly. She finished 17th with a 2:06.57 trials time that was just a fraction of a second behind the 2:06.21 that Williams junior Alyssa Levine swam for 16th. Her previous school mark of 2:08.67 was set in 2011.
Competing in the trials on Wednesday, Garvey was in the first event of the meet. She swam 5:11.71 to place 36th in the 500-yard freestyle. In the 50-yard freestyle later on Wednesday, Sliwinski timed 24.40 seconds to swim 43rd overall.
That pair then joined Grainger and Coniglio for a 1:52.30 finish in the 200-yard medley relay to place 25th. The Jumbos lined-up Sliwinski in the backstroke, Grainger in the breaststroke, Garvey in the butterfly, and Coniglio in the freestyle.
On Thursday, the 200 freestyle relay of Coniglio, Garvey, Grainger, and Sliwinski swam 24th with a 1:38.78 time. Also on Thursday Garvey was the 24th finisher in the 400 individual medley trials (4:35.66).
Results
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