When it was all said and done, only 8.5 points separated the fourth and sixth place teams at the three day women's NESCAC Championships in Middlebury, Vt. Tufts, unfortunately, was the recipient of sixth place, losing out to fourth place Colby and fifth place Connecticut College, who beat the Jumbos by a measly two points.
However, that did not stop Tufts from breaking six school records and possibly sending three individuals and a relay team to Nationals.
"We had just an outstanding meet," coach Nancy Bigelow said. "We outperformed anything I ever expected. It was totally a team effort and I am proud of each and every one of them. I really could not be more excited."
The closeness of the race added to the team's anticipation.
"We were all so excited to be in contention for fourth and fifth place," senior quad-captain Erica Weitz said, referring to the fact that Tufts was holding onto fourth place going into Sunday. "Everyone worked so hard down to that last relay so we really couldn't ask for more. We swam incredibly well and had a lot of people coming back at night to swim in finals."
Williams continued its domination of the NESCAC with its fifth consecutive championship. The Ephs finished in first place with 1,729 points, ahead of Amherst (1,431.5) and Middlebury (1,337). Tufts finished with 848 total points, a decrease from last year when the Jumbos racked up 914 points on their way to fourth place.
A number of swimmers had standout performances for Tufts, including freshman Allison Palomaki. She was the leading scorer for the Jumbos, finishing with a total of 71 points. The freshman finished seventh in the 50-yard breaststroke (31.41), sixth in 100-yard breaststroke (1:06.70), and sixth in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:26.23). In the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, she made the national B cut, which means she has a chance to go to the NCAA Div. III Championship meet at Hope College in Michigan in March. Palomaki's 100-yard time also set a new school record.
Fellow freshman Bianca Spinosa was just as impressive, setting two school records in the 50- and 100-yard butterfly. She finished a Tufts-best second overall in the 50 fly (26.26), a big jump after finishing seventh in the preliminaries. She also placed fourth in the 100 fly with a time of 58.15, a time that also provisionally qualified her for Nationals.
"Allison and Bianca had been aiming all year to get the times they did," Bigelow said. "The environment at the championships is so electrifying because everyone is pulling for the swimmers. I think it really gave them a boost."
Weitz echoed those sentiments.
"The freshmen swam especially fast this weekend," she said. "Allison and Bianca made the top eight in their events and dropped a lot of time. Tia Bassano, Renee Nicholas, Claire Pigula and Sharon Silverman all dropped a ton of time and placed well at finals."
Chloe Young-Hyman had a very strong meet as well, finishing fifth in the 50-yard breaststroke (31.16), seventh in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.10) and 12th in the 200 breaststroke (2:29.89). Her 100 breaststroke earned her a chance to go to Nationals as well.
Additionally, the fifth place-finishing 200 medley relay team of Young-Hyman, Spinosa, Bassano and freshman Monika Burns (1:49.80) made the national B cut while setting a Tufts record. The relay team, along with Palomaki, Spinosa and Young-Hyman, will find out Friday if they will go to Nationals once the official list of qualifiers is released.
In her last meet at Tufts, Weitz did not disappoint. The senior finished seventh in the 400-yard IM (4:40.39), 11th in 500-yard freestyle (5:13.80) and 12th in the 200-yard butterfly.
"It was an incredibly fast meet this year, so I was really happy with the way I swam," she said. "It was great to place in the top eight in the 400 IM, and I was equally pleased with my 500 free and 200 fly because I swam some of my fastest times in those events."
With such a stacked lineup of swimmers, several meet and conference records fell. Senior Lindsay Payne of Williams broke the NESCAC record in the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 28.64. She also broke NESCAC records in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.68) and the 200 breaststroke (2:16.82). Senior Kate Kovenock of Connecticut College also had a dominating meet, winning the 50-yard freestyle (23.47), the 100 free (51.26) and the 200 free (1:53.20), setting two meet records and a pool record in the process.
Freshmen phenoms Marika Ross of Middlebury and Brittany Sasser of Amherst broke the meet record in the 200-yard IM, as they tied for first with a time of 2:04.98. Sasser also broke the NESCAC records in the 100-yard backstroke (56.15) and the 200 backstroke (2:01.20) and Ross set a NESCAC record in the 200 fly (2:03.09) and a meet record in the 400-yard IM, winning the race with a time of 4:29.71.
"The field was very tough and incredibly fast this year," said Bigelow. "The top eight finishers in the 100-yard breaststroke made national qualifying times and other races had similar results. It just shows how strong the conference was."
Going into the meet, not too many people would have been shocked if the Jumbos had finished eighth. However, for the second consecutive year, the swimmers found a way to overachieve and had a very realistic shot at fourth place heading into the final day.
"I am so just so proud of our whole team because every person put their heart into their swims," Weitz said. "It was great to watch everyone swim their best times and have fun doing it."
