BRUNSWICK, ME (February 10, 2023) – The Tufts University women's swimming & diving team won three conference titles and broke three school records while extending their lead on day two of the 2023 NESCAC Championships Friday at Bowdoin College.
Through 10 events, defending champion Tufts leads the conference meet with a 815.5 score. Second-place Williams College is at 668 and third-place Amherst has a 486 score.
The Jumbos got started tonight by winning the 200 freestyle relay. The foursome of
Katelin Ulmer,
Jillian Cudney,
Lily Klinginsmith and
Elle Morse finished in 1:32.87, a facility record and NCAA 'B' cut. Tufts repeated as champs in the event, with Ulmer and Cudney as part of the winning relay two years in a row. The Jumbo B relay of
Claire Brennan,
Isa Chambers,
Katelin Isakoff and
Chloe Deveney added ninth-place points with their 1:34.49 NCAA 'B' mark.
First-year
Quinci Wheeler then had the first Tufts record of the meet, swimming 29.07 for third place in the 50 breaststroke. She erased the nine-year old 29.10 Tufts mark set by Jenny Hu from 2014. Morse was seventh in the final (29.56) and
Abby Miller took 12th (30.13).
The Jumbos had three in the top nine for the 50 butterfly. First-year
Jade Foltenyi led the group in fifth place with a touch of 25.43 seconds. Cudney placed eighth in 25.89 and
Esme Blackstock had a 25.80 mark for ninth place.
First-year
Madeleine Dunn hit the jackpot in the 500 freestyle by winning the race with a school-record time of 4:52.69. She edged her teammate Brennan, who touched in 4:52.74. It's Tufts' first championship season win in the 500 free since Hall of Famer Maureen Monahan won the New England title in the event in 1991. Isakoff finished seventh tonight, joining Dunn and Brennan in hitting NCAA 'B' marks with her 5:00.18. Tufts had five in the top 11 for the event overall, including
Sahar Mumtaz eighth (5:00.59) and
Allison Cremer 11th (5:04.91).
In the 50 backstroke,
Gaurika Singh was just off the Tufts record with her 26.55 time for ninth place. The Jumbos also had
Maddie Hagberg 11th (26.90),
Elise Fong 21st (27.69) and
Lara Wujciak 24th (27.80).
Klinginsmith then chopped over two seconds off the Tufts record in the 200 IM. Her 2:00.95 for second place at the meet was well under the 2:03.66 swam by Jumbo All-American
Abby Claus at the NCAA meet last year. Klinginsmith led five Jumbos among the top 10 in the event today.
Tory Atkinson was fourth in 2:05.49, joining Klinginsmith as a NCAA 'B' cut.
Cierra McCarty was fifth in the race at 2:06.35, while Deveney (2:06.77) and
Sora Sohn (2:07.42) were also in the top 10.
Ulmer then powered her way to a 23.38 victory in the 50 freestyle, Tufts' first in the sprint race for the championship season since Amy Moran in 1986. Morse was third in tonight's race (23.48), Cudney seventh (23.81) and Chambers was 10th (24.14) after being 15th in the prelims. Ulmer and Morse hit NCAA 'B' marks, with Ulmer improving upon her time from the opening leg of the 200 free relay.
The 400 medley relay closed the swimming portion of Friday's events, with Tufts taking second place behind Wiliams. Hagberg, Wheeler, Isakoff and Brennan swam 3:46.60 for an NCAA 'B' mark. Hagberg hit an NCAA 'B' cut with her opening 56.77 in the 100 back. Tufts was also 13th with its B relay – Singh, Ulmer, Foltenyi and Morse (3:48.47 for another NCAA 'B' cut).
In diving today,
Sydney Ho had an excellent performance in the one-meter final. Her 444.0 scored was much improved from her 413.90 in the trials.
Malia Leung was eighth in the event with a 390.45 score in the finals.
The top three in each event earn NESCAC All-Conference honors.
Saturday's action will have the 1000 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 400 IM, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, three-meter diving and 200 medley relay. Preliminaries begin at 10 AM with diving trials at 2 PM and the finals at 5:45 PM.
--JUMBOS--
