Just days after defeating Div. I Boston College in its best performance of the season, the men's swimming and diving team split a pair of matchups with NESCAC foes over the weekend.
Wesleyan hosted a tri-meet featuring Tufts and defending conference champion Williams, with the Jumbos getting the better of the host Cardinals, 184-115, but losing to Williams by a score of 189-111, bringing their record to 4-1 overall.
"I was very happy with the results and how well our team performed this past weekend," coach Adam Hoyt said. "It was a long meet, and Williams is always a tough team to compete against, but we stuck with them and posted some season-best performances."
"I thought everyone swam hard after the training trip and the practices we've had this week," senior tri-captain Drew Curhan said. "We were happy with how we did. Of course we'd like to beat Williams, but we left it all in the pool."
The Jumbos did not dominate like they did against BC, but they still had several strong performances. After Tufts placed second in the opening 200-yard medley relay, sophomore Kyle Jones took second in the next event, the 1,650-yard freestyle, with a time of 16:59.
Just two events later, freshman Matthew Glenn continued his strong season, coming in second in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 54:68, just behind freshman Worth MacDonald from Williams, who came in at 54:63. Tufts took fifth, sixth and seventh in this event as well, as freshman Michael Del Moro, senior tri-captain Sean Sullivan and sophomore Matt Salzberg all finished consecutively.
Tufts followed up this performance with a solid finish in the 100-yard breaststroke. Junior James Longhurst finished second in 1:00.16, while sophomore Lawrence Chan checked in right behind him at 1:00.98. Freshmen Zed Debbaut and Chris Vorlicek, who have shown promise this season, finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
After Williams swept the top three spots in the 200-yard butterfly, the Jumbos received strong finishes from junior Andrew Shields and freshman Gordy Jenkins in the 50-yard freestyle, placing third and fourth, respectively.
Tufts took its first victory of the day in the 3-meter dive on the shoulders of sophomore Rob Matera, before freshman Andrew Altman gave the Jumbos another second-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle.
Williams swept the top three spots of the 200-yard backstroke, but Tufts came back strong in the 200-yard breaststroke, as junior James Longhurst again placed second.
Vorlicek won the 500-yard freestyle, Tufts' only other victory on the day, but Williams swimmers took second through fifth in the event. Williams continued its dominance by placing the top four in the 100-yard butterfly.
Matera took second in the 1-meter dive, while freshman Trevor Stack finished third. Tufts then came in second in the 400-yard medley relay, the last race of the day.
The Jumbos may not have been able to beat rival Williams, but there were still many positives to take away from the meet. They beat NESCAC foe Wesleyan and were competitive in every race.
In addition, the underclassmen put together another extremely strong performance, showing the potential that this team has for this year and beyond. Six freshmen - Glenn, Del Moro, Jenkins, Altman, Debbaut and Vorlicek - have been very important for Tufts so far, while more experienced sophomores and upperclassmen have contributed as well.
"We've got a talented group of individuals spread across the entire team," Hoyt said. "We've got great character and great work ethic and we're very supportive of each other. We'll be able to take our team wherever we want it to go; the sky is the limit."
Tufts will now look to a home meet against MIT next week. Aside from Williams, MIT is probably the toughest competition that the Jumbos will face during the season. The Engineers are 6-1 on the season, having taken their first loss of the season Sunday against NEWMAC rival Coast Guard.
"We'll keep working hard in practice to prepare for the meet, as we've done throughout the season, and we'll work on the little things to get better," Hoyt said. "That's really the best way for us to prepare. They have a number of All-Americans and a good freshman class. It should be a fun and competitive meet and it should help that it's at home at Hamilton Pool."
