The women's swimming and diving team fought hard at Wednesday night's meet against Wellesley, but were unable to come up with a win. The Jumbos kept it close through the competition, however, boosted by strong performances from freshman Mika Sumiyoshi, senior tri-captain Kristin Horton, and the diving team.
Wellesley topped the Jumbos by 20 points, 160-140, further adding to the two teams' history of close competition. Last year, Wellesley finished ninth at New Englands, one spot ahead of Tufts.
"Wellesley is a strong team," coach Nancy Bigelow said. "They put pressure on us and I hope we put pressure on them."
One of the major reasons Wellesley may have felt some pressure was due to the standout performances by Sumiyoshi. She came in first place in all of her races, which included the 200-yard freestyle, 200 individual medley, and the 100 butterfly. Sumiyoshi just edged out her opponent, Jessica LeRoy, by less than half a second in the 100 butterfly, with a time of 1:01.32, but easily won the other two races by a gap of around five seconds.
"I was happy I could contribute to the team," Sumiyoshi said. "I was a little disappointed with my times but it is still early in the season."
Bigelow had nothing but good things to say about Sumiyoshi, however. "She had an outstanding meet," she said.
Wellesley coach Bonnie Dix agreed. "Wow!" she said. "People should come to see her race."
Horton also contributed to the team with a first place finish in the 200 breaststroke, when she out-touched Wellesley's Meredith Cowie by .46 seconds with a time of 2:33.72 in a race that was a fight to the end. Horton swam her race four seconds faster than she did two Saturdays ago at the season opening meet against Clark.
Sophomore Emily Gordon also improved on her times from the last meet, shaving four seconds off her 500 freestyle. She finished six seconds ahead of Wellsley's Theresa Sommers, clocking in at 5:37.45, and also contributed to the team score with a second-place finish in the 1000 freestyle (11:32.72).
The diving team was also instrumental in keeping it a close meet. Tufts' divers freshman Beth Wecksell and sophomores Angela Russo and Lauren Reveley took first, second, and third place, respectively, for both heats of the one-meter diving. Combined, these three divers added a total of 32 points to the Jumbo's final score.
"Everyone did well," Wecksell said. "It looks like we are going to have a great season."
Bigelow agreed. "The divers were awesome," she said. "They kept us close." Wecksell and Russo dived well enough at this meet to qualify for the NESCAC Championship in February.
"I was happy to qualify," Wecksell said. "I didn't expect it to be so soon in the season."
The Jumbos had many obstacles to overcome for this meet. Wellesley had been practicing for almost a month before the Brown and Blue could begin official practices due to NESCAC regulations. Wellesley, which plays in a different conference, is not confined by these regulations.
"It's frustrating for those who know they can swim faster but just aren't there yet" Bigelow said.
Bigelow's squad is focusing on the meets later in the season, particularly the NESCAC Championships. This is the first year that there will be a NESCAC Championship for swimming and diving. In previous years Tufts competed in the New England Championships. The team has been training hard through these beginning meets, and that has taken something out of their performance come race time. The results will show when the Jumbos rest before the more important meets, assures Bigelow.
"The kids are tired," Bigelow said. "They are working really hard, and that will pay off as the season goes on.
Despite these obstacles, Tufts managed to keep the meet close. One of the team's strengths is their depth. Though Wellesley swimmers placed first in most of the events, the Jumbos had enough second and third place finishes to keep the 20 point gap from growing any larger.
Overall, Bigelow and the rest of the team were happy with the meet. "Everyone went out hard and did their best," senior tri-captain Nancy Leahy said. "I was very impressed with how hard everyone tried."
