GREENSBORO, NC (March 23, 2024) – Senior
Jillian Cudney and sophomore
Maddie Hagberg both had top-eight finishes as the Tufts University women's swimming & diving team finished strong at the NCAA Championships on Saturday.
Head coach
Adam Hoyt's team was 10th in the final standings, the Jumbos' third-straight season in the national Top 10. Tufts scored 115.5 NCAA points this week.
Cudney's third-place finish in the 100 freestyle on Saturday night is her highest finish ever in three NCAA appearances. She swam a career-best 50.09 seconds in the championship final after a 50.47 time in the preliminaries this morning. Cudney finishes the meet with five All-American awards and 12 for her career. She was in the top five twice nationally this week, including tying for fifth in the 50 freestyle (23.11).
Hagberg earned a spot in the championship final of the 200 backstroke tonight by swimming a career-best 2:01.27 time for eighth in the preliminaries this morning. Tonight she earned eighth in the championship final – her first individual All-American recognition – with a 2:02.84 mark.
Sophomore diver
Malia Leung finished her NCAA week with a pair of honorable mention All-American scores. Today she was 13th in the three-meter diving competition. After making the consolation final with a 403.35 preliminary score, she had a 414.70 mark in the consolation final.
In the 1650 freestyle first heat in the morning, Tufts sophomore
Madeleine Dunn timed 17:19.50 which ended up 21st in a timed final. Sophomore
Quinci Wheeler had a 2:21.64 time in the 200 breaststroke for a 34th-place finish. Senior
Elise Fong also competed in the 200 backstroke with a 2:06.24 time that was 27th overall.
For the second time this week the Jumbos were disqualified from a relay on Saturday. They had a false start in the preliminaries of the 400 freestyle relay, where they were the #7 seed.
Twelve Jumbos take home All-American awards overall (with totals from the meet) – Cudney (5), Dunn (2), Leung (2), Wheeler (2),
Isa Chambers (1),
Emma Claus (1),
Jade Foltenyi (1), Hagberg (1),
Elena Harrison (1),
Sydney Stasz (1),
Selin Tuncay (1) and
Lara Wujciak (1).
--JUMBOS--
