Tufts Wins Three More Events Saturday, Stand Second in Close Battle with Williams at NESCAC's

WATERVILLE, ME (February 15, 2025) - The Tufts University women's swimming & diving team won three more events on Saturday at the 2025 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championships hosted by Colby College.

The Jumbos started tonight's finals by winning the 200 medley relay, breaking Williams College's nine-year streak of victories in the event. Tufts' order of sophomore Elena Harrison, junior Quinci Wheeler, senior Jade Foltenyi and senior Jillian Cudney raced to a 1:41.31 winning time. The mark was a Colby pool record and was just .01 off the Tufts team record.

Tufts junior Madeleine Dunn then broke her own school record to win the 1000 freestyle final. Her 9:58.87 winning time was two seconds faster than her previous best. It's the fourth NESCAC title of Dunn's career and second in the 1000.

The Jumbos then capped Saturday's swimming portion of the schedule with an exciting win for senior Gaurika Singh in the 100 backstroke. The Nepal Olympian and Tufts senior came from behind to win in a time of 55.85 seconds.

Tufts has now won eight events total in two days at the conference championship meet.

Also in the 100 backstroke the Jumbos had first-year Noa Chambers in third place (56.44), first-year Olivia Pettit sixth (56.73) and junior Madison Hagberg 15th (57.70). The strong scoring moved Tufts past Williams into first place as the two teams battle for the 2025 conference championship.

However, the Ephs inched back ahead in the final event of the day (three-meter diving) and lead by a very small margin heading into Sunday. Williams has a team score of 1349, just 7.5 ahead of Tufts' 1341.5 total in second place. Amherst College is currently third (855).

The Jumbos scored big in the 100 butterfly today with five in the top 11. First-year Angel Smyrniou was the runner-up in 55.31 seconds and Foltenyi placed third at 55.61 seconds. Tufts also had Harrison fifth (56.30), senior Lara Wujciak ninth (winner of the consolation final in 56.46) and junior Katharine Skelly tied for 11th (56.97).

Tufts had a similarly strong performance in the 100 breaststroke. Wheeler led that group in second place with a 1:02.85 time. Sophomore Sydney Stasz scored sixth (1:03.72), sophomore Mia Solomon was seventh (1:04.04) and senior Abby Miller took 10th place (1:05.30).

Senior Cierra McCarty was just outside of an All-Conference finish (top three) with her 400 individual medley time of 4:26.50 for fourth place. Senior Emma Claus finaled in the event and was eighth in a 4:33.60 mark. First-year Angelina Sagaow clocked a 4:34.54 in the consolation final for 13th place.

Junior Malia Leung and first-year Luci Karp were both among the eight finalists in three-meter diving. Leung accumulated a 435.60 score for sixth place and Karp was behind her in seventh with a 418.75 total.

For the 200 freestyle, the Jumbos had first-year Sweeney Su, Cudney and sophomore Selin Tuncay score important points in 10th (1:53.12), 11th (1:53.32) and 12th (1:54.22), respectively. First-year Lila Strober was also 11th in the 1000 freestyle (10:37.56).

In the only relay event on Saturday, Tufts' 200 medley relay B team of Singh, Solomon, Smyrniou and Skelly logged a 1:44.49 mark that was 13th place.

Tufts added 14 NCAA B marks today. Both 200 medley relay teams, Smyrniou, Harrison and Foltenyi in the 100 fly, Wheeler, Solomon and Stasz in the 100 breast, Singh, Noa Chambers and Pettit in the 100 back, Leung and Karp in three-meter diving and McCarty in the 400 IM all had qualifying swims.

On the final day of the meet Sunday, the teams will compete in the the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 1650 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay. Preliminaries start at 10 AM and the finals at night begin at 5:30 PM.