WILLIAMSTOWN – Two days into the 2014 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championships, senior breaststroker Jenny Hu of the Tufts women's swimming & diving team has won a conference title, broken two of her own Tufts records, and swam a national B cut time.
On Friday night, Hu won her second conference title by tying for first in the 50 breaststroke race at the NESCAC meet hosted by Williams College at Samuelson-Muir Pool. On the opening day of competition, Hu and Middlebury's Jamie Hillas recorded identical times of 29.10 seconds to tie for the 50 breast championship. Hu adds the win to her 100 breaststroke NESCAC title last season with a 1:05.15 time.
A three-year All-NESCAC performer entering the meet, Hu was third in the preliminaries with a 29.78 time that narrowly broke her own school record of 29.83 from 2012. She improved that mark with the 29.10 final. The time was a pool record. Middlebury's Hillas had won the prelims with a 29.34 tie.
On Saturday, Hu's 1:04.01 in the 100 breaststroke broke her own previous school record (1:04.81) from last season. The time finished third at the race for All-NESCAC honors and was a National B cut performance. That improved upon the 1:05.75 B cut that she put down in the prelims.
Also on Saturday, the Jumbos received a national B cut time of 4:36.26 in the 400 individual medley from Amanda Gottschalk. She was ninth overall, improving by over four seconds on her 4:40.80 preliminary time.
Head coach Nancy Bigelow's Jumbos have reached the finals in eight events overall so far at the meet. Junior Sam Sliwinski posted a top five finish in the 50 freestyle Friday. Her time of 24.26 seconds was fifth overall. She had been sixth in the preliminary (24.33). Amanda Wachenfeld swam a strong 10:29.95 in the 1,000 freestyle on Saturday for sixth place.
Two relays reached the finals on Friday. The Jumbos were seventh in the 200 freestyle relay Friday. Hu, Sliwinski, Sophia Lin and Kathryn Coniglio earned a spot in the final with a 1:38.42 for sixth in the prelims. The order of Sliwinski, Lin, Hu and Coniglio then went 1:37.87 in the final. To close Friday's swimming, Kelsey McEvoy, Hu, Cassidy Hubert and Coniglio swam 3:57.96 for eighth place in the 400 medley relay.
Saturday's 200 medley relay became the third Jumbo foursome to final. Andrea Coniglio, Hu, Hubert and Sliwinski timed 1:47.78 to place seventh. The 800 freestyle relay group of Wachenfeld, Sarah Mahoney, Kathryn Coniglio and Sliwinski swam eighth with a 7:52.56 finish.
Tufts had three swimmers score in the top 16 of the 50 breast overall. Laura Cui placed 12th (31.40) and Ellen Gage took 14th at 31.91 seconds. Gottschalk led three Jumbos who top 16'd in the 400 IM. Maddie Golison touched 13th in 4:45 flat, and Katharine Majewski was 16th at 4:48.73 in Saturday's final.
Tufts stayed seventh overall as a team after day two with 543.5 points. Williams College still leads after day two with 1.341 points.
The third and final day of the Championship begins Sunday with the preliminaries at 10 am.
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