Men swimmers finish third at NESCAC Championships

Described by coach Don Megerle as the "true spirit of Tufts University," the men's swimming team had a truly spiritual experience over the weekend at the NESCAC Championships--meeting its goal of a third-place finish in the 11-team NESCAC conference tournament, breaking four school records and earning Megerle his sixth Coach of the Year award.

At the Championships, Williams enjoyed a home-pool advantage and won the NESCAC crown. Though Amherst was considered by many to be the favorite coming in, the Lord Jeffs did not see the same sort of time improvement that the other top schools in the conference did, and any hopes for a perfect ending to their undefeated season were shattered.

The Jumbos, however, were thrilled with their third place finish, as they beat out the defending-champion Middlebury squad.

"I was definitely impressed with the team," freshman Jonathon Godsey said. "We achieved what we had hoped to achieve in earning third place."

The final team standings were relatively close, with Tufts (1,443.5) trailing Amherst (1,551) by just over 100 points and Williams pulling ahead of the pack by less than 75 points (1,624.5). Middlebury finished fourth with 1,300.5 points in a rebuilding season after losing a strong senior class from last year.

Tufts' athletes on the 24 man roster, including four divers, competed all weekend in their quest to break through to the NESCAC elite. Cheered on by their numerous teammates who had traveled to Williams for support, the Tufts team (shaven and rested for the meet) relied more on its depth than on any individual show-stopping performance. Consistently earning points in most events was the key to the Jumbos' success. In fact, no Tufts' swimmer finished first in any of the weekend's events.

Although there were no individual wins for Tufts' swimmers, there were many impressive performances over the weekend--including four separate events in which Jumbos' met national B qualifying times. Meeting the national B marks enters the swimmer in a nationwide pool of athletes hoping to get an invitation to compete at the Div. III Nationals, to be held at Emory University from Mar. 20-22. Only a certain number of national B qualifiers will actually be invited to compete at the Nationals.

One such qualifier was freshman Jonathon Godsey, whose poise over the weekend contributed handsomely to the team's success. Godsey's time in the 100 backstroke on Saturday was good enough for second (52.38 seconds) and was under the national qualifying B mark. Godsey also came in second on Friday in the hotly contested 50 backstroke event, touching the wall at 24.16 seconds for a new school record. The Dallas native's weekend was not over though as he finished third in the 200-yard backstroke on Sunday with a national B qualifying time of 1:54.08.

The squad's focus is on the team concept -- one of the team's major themes since day one - -was evident over the weekend as the team thrived in the relay events. On Friday, both the 200 freestyle relay team (1:25.24) and the 400 medley relay team (3:30) set new Tufts' records. And on Sunday, the 400 freestyle relay team posted another Tufts' record -- this one good enough to make the national provisional (B) qualifying cut (3:07.62). Though a national bid for this time is unlikely as only eight teams nationwide are able to compete at Emory, this school record was a top-15 time nationally in Div. III.

Senior tri-captain Ed Edson was a member of all three record-breaking squads. "We were pretty close to breaking every relay record," Edson said. "We peaked perfectly right at the right time. Our freshman class really stepped it up a ton and helped to improve our depth."

Sophomore Seth Baron also met national B standards for his effort in the 200 butterfly, finishing fourth with a final time of 1:55.78.

Perhaps freshman Brett Baker, who starred in the 100 individual medley and both the 400 medley relay and freestyle relay, summed up the weekend best when he said "We swam out of our minds."

Lost in the weekend's commotion was the naming of NESCAC Coach of the Year -- an honor that was bestowed upon Megerle. Though eager to side-step the limelight and give credit to the "kids," Megerle has been the glue behind the Tufts swimming program for over 30 years and his decisions these past weeks on how to configure the championship roster seemed to be another indication of his pool IQ.

A five-time New England Coach of the Year (1979, 1989, 1991, 1994, 2000), this is the first time Megerle has earned the NESCAC award.

"Though this is the sixth time I've won the award, this is one of the most satisfying ones because we were up against some pretty good teams this year," Megerle said. "It was a great honor."

"He definitely deserved it," Godsey said of his coach. "Without his planning or insight I don't think we could have done we did."