Teams: Men's Swimming & Diving: Schedule & Results

JUMBOS TAKE SECOND PLACE AT NESCAC CHAMPIONSHIPS

COLLEGE MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING RESULTS
NESCAC Championships
At Middlebury, VT
Friday-Sunday, February 29-March 2, 2008

Meet Results

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. -- Using great depth with several top-eight finishes, the Tufts men's swimming & diving team finished in second place at the New England Small College Athletic Conference championship meet at Middlebury College over the weekend. Coach Adam Hoyt's Jumbos scored 1,489 points in 24 events total, almost 100 points ahead of third-place Amherst (1,399) and behind only Williams College (1,860 pts.).

In its first event of the weekend, the Jumbos swam an NCAA B-cut time in the 200 freestyle relay preliminaries. Freshman Gordy Jenkins (Kansas City, MO), freshman Andrew Altman (New Fairfield, CT), freshman David Meyer (Clarendon Hills, IL) and junior Andrew Shields (Norwalk, CT) combined for a 1:24.41 time. The 400 medley relay at the end of the day matched the national B-cut mark of 3:28.85 in the finals. That foursome was freshman Matt Glenn (Greenwood Village, CO), sophomore Lawrence Chan (Fresh Meadows, NY), Shields and Meyer.

On Saturday, freshman Chris Vorlicek (Del Mar, CA) had a second-place finish in the 400 individual medley final with a new Tufts record. Fifth in the preliminaries with a record mark of 4:09.83, he swam a national B-cut time of 4:08.21 in the final that improved his record by more than a second and a half. Jumbos also swam two NCAA B-cuts in the 100 breaststroke on Saturday, with junior James Longhurst (Swampscott, MA) touching in 58.41 seconds in the preliminaries (58.52 in the final) and Chan just coming in under the mark at 58.78 seconds in the final.

Tufts also received second-place points from sophomore diver Rob Matera (Trumbull, CT) on Sunday. His score of 467.70 points was second in the 3-meter competition. The 400 freestyle relay closed the competition on Sunday night for the Jumbos by swimming a national B-cut time of 3:07.44 in the finals. Altman, junior Ben Mitchell (Normandy Park, WA), Meyer and Shields put together that effort.

The strength in numbers of the Tufts team was evident throughout competition. Besides Vorlicek and Matera, Tufts did not have an individual or relay finish higher than fourth place. Their depth in many events carried them to the runner-up position, their second second in the last three seasons. They were third by just two points behind second-place Amherst last year. At the 2008 championships, three Tufts swimmers placed within the top eight in the 50 breaststroke on Friday. Saturday's 100 breaststroke also had three Jumbos in the championship final.

The Jumbos will now await word about their NCAA qualifying times.

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