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| Anna Kimura set a new Tufts 200 breaststroke record on Sunday |
MIDDLETOWN, CT – First-year Anna Kimura broke the school record in the 200 breaststroke Sunday to cap the Tufts women's swimming & diving team's performance at the 2015 NESCAC Championships hosted by Wesleyan. The Jumbos finished seventh as a team at the three-day event.
Kimura's time of 2:21.94 in the 200 breast final erased the previous Tufts mark of 2:22.05 set by Jenny Hu in 2014. Kimura's was sixth in the conference final and also notched an NCAA B cut, easily within the 2:24.39 national time. She had finished in a strong 2:22.22 B mark during the preliminaries. Three Jumbos scored in the top 16 for the event overall.
Though Kimura's record was the only one set by the Jumbos at the meet, they recorded four NCAA B times overall.
Sophomore Amanda Gottschalk swam two of them. She had a 2:24.25 also in the 200 breaststroke during the preliminaries on Sunday. She posted an NCAA B time in the 400 individual medley to highlight the second day on Saturday. Gottschalk recorded that time in the preliminaries as well with a 4:34.23 touch, more than two seconds better than the 4:36.69 B qualifying standard. She was seventh in the final (4:35.03). Three Jumbos scored in the top 16 of the 400 IM too.
Sophomore diver Kylie Reiman recorded an NCAA B score with her 398 to place fourth in the one-meter event on Friday. Her finish was the best for the Jumbos at the Championship. She improved upon a 384.55 preliminary score. In three-meter diving on Sunday, Reiman earned sixth place (350.00).
Head coach Nancy Bigelow's Jumbos posted two fifth-place finishes on Saturday. Senior tri-captain Kathryn Coniglio timed 1:53.60 in the 200 freestyle. The 800 freestyle relay of senior tri-captain Amanda Wachenfeld, junior Sarah Mahoney, senior tri-captain Scarlett Hao and Coniglio closed Saturday's action with a 7:49.58 time.
Swimming the anchor leg of the 200 freestyle relay which started the meet on Friday, Coniglio finished her 50 in a fast 23.82 seconds to lead Tufts to sixth in the event. First-year Jess Lee, sophomore Sophia Lin and Hao joined Coniglio for a 1:37.35 time overall.
Tufts had top-eight finishes in all five relays over the weekend. On Sunday, Coniglio, Wachenfeld, Hao and Lee combined on a 3:33.67 time that was sixth. Friday's 400 medley relay saw the Tufts foursome touch in 3:59.30 for seventh place. The Jumbo team consisted of first-years Kelsey Gallagher, Meghan Casey and Kimura along with Coniglio. Gallagher, Casey, Lee and Lin opened Saturday's finals with a 1:49.71 for seventh in the 200 medley relay.
Coniglio won the consolation final in the individual 50 free with a 24.42 touch Friday. She was ninth in the final after swimming 24.40 in the preliminaries for 10th. In the 100 freestyle on Sunday, Coniglio finaled with a time of 52.58 seconds for eighth place.
Lee also won the consolation final in the 50 butterfly. Her 26.32 for ninth in the final improved upon her 26.56 that was 12th in the preliminaries. Wachenfeld also added a 10:32.44 in the 1,000 for ninth place on Saturday.
The Jumbos were seventh in team scoring with a 795 score. Williams (2,103.5), Bates (1,345) and Middlebury (1,203) were the top three.
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