In their final prep meet before the NESCAC championships in two weeks, Tufts had a number of strong performances against high caliber competition at the Middlebury Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
The meet featured two of Tufts' top foes for the NESCAC crown in Middlebury and defending conference champion Williams, in addition to non-conference foes MIT and Wheaton on the second day. For those Jumbos who will be participating at NESCACs, the race gave them a chance to get some final prep work in their events, while also allowing some other members of the team to finish up their season on a positive note.
"We approached it just like we did any other meet," junior Ben Moskowitz said. "We came into it with a great attitude and we really wanted to swim well. Some guys who were there, it was their last meet of the season and they did well."
Freshman Chris Vorlicek continued his strong season over the weekend, coming away with one of two Tufts victories in the swimming events. Vorlicek dominated the competition in the 400-yard individual medley in a time of 4:14.87, well ahead of classmate Eddie Mayerson who finished in second. Vorlicek also added a third place finish in the 200 breaststroke, which was won by MIT's Rastislav Racz in a NCAA B cut time.
Mayerson also had a great day for the Jumbos, picking up his own victory in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:01.35. The other victories on the day for Tufts came from sophomore diver Rob Matera, who won both the 1- and 3-meter diving events. In the latter event, freshman teammate Trevor Stack also picked up a second-place finish for the Jumbos.
Tufts also had some strong performances in the relays. A team comprised of freshmen Matthew Glenn and Gordy Jenkins as well as sophomore Matt Salzberg and junior Ben Moskowitz finished third in the 400 medley relay. In addition, the Jumbos took second in both the 400 and 200 freestyle relays, with Jenkins and junior Matt Murphy leading the way on each team.
The duo also helped the 200 medley relay team, which also included freshmen Michael Delo Moro and Zed Debbaut, finish just 20 hundredths of a second behind the first place quartet from Middlebury.
Murphy had a busy meet for the Jumbos, participating in seven events over the two days. The junior finished in the top five in all of the events, which included the two relays, and showcased his versatility by competing in freestyle events ranging from the 50 free to the 1,000 yards. His best performance of the meet came in the latter event, when he finished third behind a pair of swimmers from MIT.
As for the Jumbos who will not be taking part in the conference meet next weekend, they also had a fine weekend at Middlebury. About half the team saw its season come to a close yesterday on a positive note, as many improved on their times.
"All season, [coach Adam Hoyt] has been telling us that the hard work we put in is going to pay off in the long run," said junior Peter Accomando, one of the Jumbos who will not be racing in two weeks. "But you don't see that until the last meet, and you just have to have faith in your training. When you're in the water, it feels like any other race, but when you come up and see your times - like I shaved a few seconds in some races- it's a great feeling to see that all the training was worth it."
The Jumbos will now have until Feb. 29 to prepare for the three-day NESCAC Championships, which will also be held at Middlebury.
Tufts is coming off a third place finish at the conference meet last season, but if this weekend's racing is any indication, the competition might be even tougher this time around.
"I think we feel pretty good going into that meet," Moskowitz said. "We swam against a couple of teams we will see up there at NESCACs. We got a chance to test the water because we were at Middlebury, and that is where NESCACs will be. It was good to just get in the water and see how it felt. We also got that big meet atmosphere, and we are really looking forward to swimming fast at the NESCACs."
