Sumiyoshi, Wecksell compete with Div. III's best

In the final meet of their collegiate swimming and diving careers, senior tri-captain Mika Sumiyoshi and classmate Beth Wecksell headed to Principia College in Missouri with one goal in mind: to leave the collegiate swimming scene with a bang.

The two did just that, as Sumiyoshi finished fourth and sixth in her two strongest events, the 200IM (2:08.33) and 400IM (4:32.67), respectively, and Wecksell garnered a 12th place finish in both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard diving events. Sumiyoshi also competed in the 200 breaststroke for just the second time this season; however she failed to make the finals.

The duo's efforts earned the Jumbos a 27th place finish out of 60 in the team competition.

Sumiyoshi's fourth and sixth place finishes in the 200 and 400IM earned her all-American status in two different events for the first time in her four trips to Nationals.

She finished first in the 200IM among NESCAC competitors, once again beating out Bowdoin freshman Kate Chapman by just over a second. She finished behind Williams sophomore Tricia Chambers in the 400IM, however, missing out on fifth place by .26 seconds.

Her finish in the 200IM was an improvement from last season, when she missed the top eight, finishing ninth with a time of 2:07.99, which was faster than this season's time.

Her finish in the 400IM was two spots worse this season than it was last season, however, when she finished fourth with a time of 4:30.58.

Sumiyoshi was convinced she could have done better.

"I didn't swim as well as I wanted to," she said. "It was exciting to watch everyone at nationals, because everyone is so fast and the competition is so fierce. It's the top swimmers from every conference, and they're all there to win."

Wecksell, competing in her second national meet, finished 12th in the highly subjective diving competition. She finished fifth among NESCAC competitors in the 1-meter event with 303.95 points, sixteen points from the top eight overall. She took sixth place among NESCAC competitors in the 3-meter competition with 336.50 points, under 20 points out of the top eight.

The meet marked the end of the careers of the two seniors, who have left their mark as two of the most successful women Tufts Swimming and Diving has ever seen.

"It was a strange feeling to be completely done with my swimming career," Sumiyoshi said. "I was disappointed that my last swims were not what I was hoping for, but I did have a good season that I can look back on and be happy about."