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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Monday, August 18, 2025

NESCAC championships recap

Women's

A pair of long-standing NESCAC dynasties came to an end during the 2008 season. After claiming the first seven conference crowns ever awarded, the Bowdoin basketball team was finally dethroned in March after dropping a 26-point blowout decision to eventual champion Amherst in the NESCAC semifinals.

Likewise, Middlebury lacrosse failed to capture a conference title for the first time since the NESCAC Tournament's inception in 2001, falling to fifth-seeded Colby in the semifinals.

Other than those two upsets, however, there were no other major surprises on the women's side. Eight squads that won NESCAC championships during the 2006-2007 season - including the Tufts softball team - successfully defended their crowns this year.

A complete list of all the women's conference champions from the 2007-2008 season (* denotes national champion):

Basketball: Amherst

*Cross Country: Amherst

*Field Hockey: Bowdoin

Ice Hockey: Amherst

Lacrosse: Colby

Rowing: Williams

Soccer: Williams

Softball: Tufts

Squash: Trinity

Swimming and Diving: Williams

Tennis: Amherst

Track and Field: Williams

Volleyball: Williams

Men's

Two six seeds went from being on the postseason bubble to the top of the NESCAC in 2008 after each made a stunning Cinderella run to a conference title. In the winter season, the Trinity ice hockey team bested the top three seeds - including four-time defending NESCAC champion Middlebury in the championship game - for its first conference crown since 2003.

Meanwhile, Williams lacrosse ended Middlebury's seven-year reign atop the NESCAC, toppling the Panthers in the semifinals before claiming its first title.

Still, it wasn't an entirely lost season for Middlebury, which saw its football team take its first outright conference championship after beating Tufts in the final weekend of the season. Other first-time conference champions included the Trinity basketball team and the Bowdoin tennis team.

The following are the men's title-winners from the 2007-2008 campaign (* denotes national champion):

Baseball: Trinity

Basketball: Trinity

Cross Country: Williams

Football: Middlebury

Golf: Williams

Ice Hockey: Trinity

Lacrosse: Williams

Rowing: Trinity

*Soccer: Middlebury

*Squash: Trinity

Swimming and Diving: Williams

Tennis: Bowdoin

Track and Field: Williams