WATERVILLE, Maine - Sunday is set up to be an exciting conclusion to the 2022 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Women's Swimming & Diving Championships as Tufts University and Williams College battle for the title.
Following Saturday's action, Williams leads the 11-team meet with a 1,265.5 score and Tufts is just 7.5 points behind in second place with a 1258 total. Sunday's seven events will determine the champion. Tufts is competing for its first-ever conference crown, while Williams seeks its 20th title out of the 21 years the meet has been contested.
The Jumbos had school records in the 200 medley relay, 1,000 freestyle, 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle today to bring their total for the meet to 12.
Mary Hufziger won the NESCAC 200 freestyle for the second straight time with a 1:48.26 time. That broke her own school record of 1:48.77 from her 2020 conference victory. The Jumbos had the top two finishers in the 200 free tonight as Claire Brennan was runner-up in a 1:48.73 mark.
Tufts opened Saturday night's finals with a 1:43.47 school record for fourth-place in the 200 medley relay. The team of Abby Claus, Abby Miller, Mary Laurita and Jillian Cudney broke the previous Jumbo record of 1:43.85 from 2020.
Claus later broke own school standard in the 400 individual medley with a 4:24.37 swim for second place in tonight's final. Her previous record of 4:25.50 was from 2020. Tufts had four of the top seven finishers in the 400 IM, including Cierry McCarty in fourth with a 4:28.63 time.
Laurita broke the 100 butterfly record previously held by Amy Socha (55.22 in 2019) with a 55.16 for second place in tonight's final. It was another strong event for Tufts with four Jumbos placing among the top eight, all with NCAA B-cut times.
Katie Shelburne (pictured) obliterated the Tufts record in the 1,000 freestyle with her 10:12.73 for second place tonight. She was more than 10 seconds faster than the old Jumbo record of 10:23.15 by Sook-Hee Evans from 2019.
Miller's ninth in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.87) and a 57.89 for eighth-place in the 100 backstroke by Elise Fong added to Tufts' point total on Saturday.
Sunday's preliminaries will begin at 10 am, and the finals are scheduled for a 5:30 pm start.
