Teams: Women's Swimming & Diving: Press Releases

Friday, March 13, 2009

SEVEN QUALIFIERS AND ONE ALTERNATE FROM TUFTS AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP MEET

Freshman E.J. Testa is part of the 200 medley relay ranked fifth in the event at NCAA's

MEDFORD -- The Tufts University men's swimming & diving team will have a contingent of seven competitors at the 2009 NCAA Division 3 Championships March 18-21 at the University Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in Minneapolis.

Jumbos will compete in 15 events overall during the four-day championship meet. Individually, five swimmers and one diver will participate in 10 events for Tufts. Senior quad-captain Andrew Shields (Norwalk, CT) is entered in the 50 and 100 freestyles and in the 100 butterfly. Senior quad-captain James Longhurst (Swampscott, MA) will compete in the 100 breaststroke. Junior Patrick Kinsella (Hinsdale, IL) is in the 100 butterfly field. Junior Rob Matera (Trumbull, CT) qualified individually in both 1-meter and 3-meter diving. Freshmen E.J. Testa (Cheshire, CT), who will swim in the 100 backstroke, and Owen Rood (Branford, CT), who is in the 50 and 100 freestyles, are also headed to Minnesota. Shields and Matera are both making their second appearances at the NCAA meet.

Tufts will also be swimming in all five relay events at the NCAA Championships - the 200 and 400 medley relays and the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle relays. Sophomore Gordy Jenkins (Kansas City, MO) will join the other Jumbos to comprise relay foursomes. An eighth Tufts athlete, sophomore Trevor Stack (Northbrook, IL), is the second alternate in the diving events. He would join the field if two qualified competitors had to withdraw.

The Jumbos will have a busy schedule at the meet. On Wednesday (Mar. 18), Shields and Rood will lead off the action for Tufts in the 50 freestyle. Both qualified for the field, with Rood's time of 20.56 seconds ranked 18th and Shields' 20.61 ranked 19th. The 200 medley relay will also race on Wednesday, with the Tufts foursome of Testa, Longhurst, Shields and Rood owning a good chance for a top-eight effort. They qualified fifth with a 1:31.04 time that won the NESCAC title.

Thursday will be the busiest day for Tufts. The 200 freestyle relay of Rood, Kinsella, Jenkins and Shields qualified 10th with a 1:22.18 finish that they produced during a time trial at the NESCAC meet. The 100 butterfly will have two Tufts entries on Thursday, with Shields qualifying 18th with a seed time of 49.90 seconds and Kinsella ranked 38th with a 50.99 time. The 400 medley relay on Thursday has Tufts ranked 16th with a 3:23.46 time swam by Testa, Longhurst, Kinsella and Shields. Matera, 14th in the 1-meter event last year, will look to improve upon that placing in this year's 1-meter diving on Thursday.

Testa is entered in the 100 backstroke on Friday with a seed time of 51.90 seconds that is ranked 30th. Longhurst will follow in the 100 breaststroke, where his 57.54 time is 33rd. Friday's final event is the 800 freestyle relay, in which Tufts' 6:59.74 best time is 22nd. Tufts coach Adam Hoyt will use his discretion to comprise the 800 freestyle foursome at the meet.

The NCAA's will wrap up on Saturday, with Jumbos taking part in three events. Shields and Rood will both swim in the 100 freestyle. They are ranked 43rd (46.08) and 58th (46.99) in the large field for the event. The 400 freestyle relay is the final swimming event of the championships. The Tufts seed time of 3:05.31 is ranked 19th, but like with the 800 free relay, Hoyt will put together a foursome for the 400 free relay at the meet. Matera, who will be looking to match or better last year's double All-American honorable mention showing, competes in the 3-meter event on Saturday.

In 2006, when Tufts last qualified seven for the NCAA meet, the Jumbos scored 119.5 points at the meet to finish 10th overall.

►2009 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships Website

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