Colby took fifth place in this season's New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Women's Diving and Swimming Championships, which took place in Middlebury, VT over the weekend. The Mules met their primary goal, which was to come in ahead of Bates College and Bowdoin College. The two schools placed seventh and eighth respectively. Williams College took first place, Amherst College second and Middlebury College ended third in this year's NESCAC championships.

Colby's most pertinent result was Mandy Ferguson '12 breaking a 22 year old school record in 1,000 yard freestyle with a time of 10:25.35, as compared with the old record of 10:29.59 that was set in 1988 by Sally White '91. When asked about the NESCAC results, Ferguson was not lacking in praise for her teammates: "I was truly impressed with how the girls swam this year at NESCAC," she said, "Everyone really swam lights out and it was clear how much our hard work paid off." Ferguson also performed well in the 1,650 yards freestyle; he fourth place finish qualified her for the National Collegiate Athletic Association that will be held on March 17 at the University of Minnesota. Together with Ferguson, three other teammates will represent Colby in the 2010 NCAA.

Colby's results from this year's NESCACs demonstrate the potential of the team and its hard work during the year. Ferguson points out, "Although we graduated our star Kelsey Potdevin '09, who earned us a ton of points last year, we were able to get fifth place again and even moved closer toward fourth. So many people were able to make it back and get awesome night swims, which earned points for our team."

Additionally, Ferguson, together with Kathryn Lee '13, captain Danielle Carlson '10 and Chelsea Heneghan '11 broke the school record in the 800-yard freestyle relay, placing forth in the discipline. Carlson also took seventh place in 400-yard individual medley in 4:34.10, and finished sixth in 200 yards breaststroke with a time of 2:29.62. Jessica Blais '12 finished sixth in the 200-yard backstroke in 2:09.24. In the 400-yard freestyle relay Ferguson, Carlson, Heneghan and Kayleigh Monahan '13 finished forth with a time of 3.36.61.

For the most part, the women are satisfied with their performance at the NESCACs. "The best part of the weekend was definitely seeing everyone step up and swim so fast. Plus we killed Bates and Bowdoin which is always a bonus," Ferguson said. The men's NESCAC championships will be held this weekend (February 26-28) in Williamstown, Mass., and two weeks ago Raymond Rieling '12 told The Echo that the men's aims are the same as the women's - to place ahead of Bates and Bowdoin. The Echo congratulates the women's team on its achievement in NESCACs this season, and wishes the men's team the best of luck at Williams next weekend.