In a year that saw Tufts' sports teams defeat regional Goliaths, capture NESCAC gold, make deep runs into NCAA tourneys and even notch a few national titles, we remember the top 10 moments in Jumbo athletics from the 2007-2008 campaign.
10. Men's swimming and diving takes second at NESCACs. Last year, the men's swimming and diving squad finished just two points shy of second-place Amherst at the NESCAC Championships. But the Jumbos made certain to avoid a neck-and-neck battle with the Lord Jeffs this time around, scoring nearly 100 points more than Amherst en route to their second top-two showing in three years. Tufts only had two finishers in the top three out of 24 events, but in a showcase of its outstanding depth, the Jumbos tallied 14 fourth- and fifth-place finishes.
9. Football beats Trinity on Parents Weekend. The football team gave a Parents Weekend crowd of 3,500 plenty to cheer about, topping Trinity 16-10 and dealing the four-time NESCAC champions just their second loss since 2001. Despite the absence of sophomore All-NESCAC safety Tom Tassinari, the Tufts defense was superb, stymieing a Bantams attack that had been averaging 36 points per game. The Jumbos went on to post their first winning season since 2003.
8. Men's crew takes New England title. The men's crew team decided before the season to put all of its focus on winning the New England Fours Championship at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester. Thanks to a brilliant first-place performance at the event, in which they led wire to wire, the Jumbos proved their time was well-spent. Tufts finished with a blistering time of 6:52.38, just under three seconds ahead of the University of Connecticut. This victory marked Tufts' first win in the fours race in 18 years.
7. Field hockey topples powerhouse Middlebury. For its home opener, the field hockey team had the daunting task of facing nationally ranked No. 5 Middlebury, a squad that would later reach the national championship game. But Tufts was up to the challenge, riding two goals from senior co-captain Ileana Casellas-Katz to a landmark 3-1 victory, the Jumbos' first over the Panthers since 1985. The win was one highlight of a banner 2007 season for the Jumbos, who recorded a program-best 13 victories and made their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
6. Softball wins NESCAC title. The Jumbos captured their second-straight conference title with a 10-3 win over Wesleyan on May 4. The top team in the NESCAC East after running through its division slate with an 11-1 conference record, Tufts downed the NESCAC West-champion Cardinals in their seventh and deciding game of the championship. The title is the fifth for Tufts since the tournament's inception eight years ago.
5. Women's lacrosse ends Middlebury's streak. If the women's lacrosse team wanted to host a conference tournament game for the first time in its history, the Jumbos would have to do something no NESCAC team in the last eight years had done: beat Middlebury. Tufts did just that, ending the Panthers' 76-game conference win streak with a decisive 15-7 victory in the team's regular-season finale. The win earned the Jumbos fourth place in the NESCAC standings, Tufts' highest-ever finish.
4. Track sweeps indoor New England titles. Tufts became the indoor track capital of New England this winter, as both the men's and women's squads captured the New England Div. III titles. Each team had been knocking on the door for several years, as the men had been runners-up for the past four years while the women took second in each of the last five. The squads combined to win eight events.
3. Women's basketball upsets UMW to reach Elite Eight. Making just the second-ever Sweet Sixteen appearance by any Tufts basketball team in school history, the Jumbos were a marked underdog to their opponent, the University of Mary Washington, a squad that entered the 2007-2008 campaign as the No. 1 team in the nation. But thanks to a lockdown defensive effort, Tufts pulled off a 48-45 stunner, the biggest win in program history, and earned the team a trip to the Elite Eight. In a total team effort, all nine Jumbos who played in the game scored, as Tufts' bench outscored the Eagles' reserves 20-5.
2. Women's DMR wins national title. After narrowly missing out on a national title last year, the women's distance medley relay team got over the hump at this season's indoor track and field NCAA Championships. The quartet of freshman Stephanie McNamara and seniors Kaleigh Fitzpatrick, Katy O'Brien and Cat Beck clocked in with a first-place time of 11:46.79, giving Tufts its 14th national championship in track and field. The effort lifted the Jumbos to a sixth-place showing at Nationals.
1. Swett dominates postseason diving events. The end of senior Kendall Swett's prolific diving career couldn't have gone any better. The Akron, Ohio native, who transferred to Tufts from Lake Forest before her junior year, began the postseason by successfully defending both of her NESCAC titles, breaking school, pool, conference and meet records in the 3-meter dive along the way. She followed that with a stellar showing at the NCAA Championships, sweeping both events to up her career haul of All-American honors to six.
-by the Daily Sports Department
