WILLIAMSTOWN - Tufts' 400 medley relay smashed the school record with an NCAA B time of 3:21.94 to cap a successful first day for Jumbo Men's Swimming & Diving at the 2016 NESCAC Championships Friday at Williams College.
The foursome of senior tri-captain Michael Winget, sophomore Morgan Ciliv, freshman Kingsley Bowen, and senior tri-captain Cam Simko combined on the 400 medley time for fifth place. It is well over a second quicker than the 3:23.20 school record that was set last season with Winget, Ciliv, and Simko as part of the relay. This year's time was also well within the 3:23.13 NCAA B qualifying mark.
Winget's 49.31 100 backstroke leg to open the relay is also a new school mark and NCAA B time. He improved on his 49.47 record from last year and was within the 50.88 NCAA B standard for the 100 back.
Five records were set in all as Tufts scored 491 team points on day one. They are fourth just 10 points behind third-place Amherst (501). The host Ephs lead with a 657.5 score and Connecticut College is second with 545.5 points.
Bowen had the first record performance of the day in the 50 butterfly. His 22.79 time in the preliminaries erased the seven-year old 22.84 mark set by Patrick Kinsella in 2009. Bowen then took 0.21 off his preliminaries mark to reset the record with a 22.58 in the final. He placed third, earning All-NESCAC honors.
Winget broke his own record in the 50 backstroke preliminaries. His time of 22.90 seconds was 0.17 faster than his 23.07 mark from 2015. He placed fourth in the conference final with a 23.02 time. Senior Anthony DeBenedetto also established a new 200 butterfly record during a time trial. His 1:50.55 time eclipsed the 1:50.70 record by William Metcalfe from 2014. Benedetto's time was also within the 1:53.87 NCAA B qualifier.
Tufts' top finish of the day went to junior diver Matt Rohrer who was second in the one-meter event with a 505.55 score. He had placed first in the preliminaries at 518.00, with Amherst's Asher Lichtig second in the prelims with a 484.60 total. However, Lichtig defeated Rohrer in a close final with a 511.50 score. The All-NESCAC finish is Rohrer's fifth.
The Jumbos scored well in diving with sophomore Aaron Idelson placing sixth with 390 points.
Tufts scored 86 of their points in the 500 freestyle with five finishers among the top 15. Freshman Noah Cagley reached the final with a 4:37.38 in the prelims and then took eighth (4:40.60). Simko was ninth (4:37.91), freshman Brandon Jinn was 10th (4:39.52), sophomore Neil Spazzarini was 12th (4:40.27), and freshman Ross Wood was 15th (4:45.11).
The 200 freestyle relay of Bowen, Winget, sophomore Zachary Wallace, and sophomore Michael Brienza swam fourth in a 1:23.72 time, just 0.16 out of an All-NESCSAC honor. Brienza did a 20.61 anchor leg.
Wallace finaled in the 200 individual medley and took eighth with a 1:53.64 touch.
Day of NESCAC's starts with the preliminaries tomorrow at 10 am. Saturday's finals begin at 5:50 pm.
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