The Middlebury men's swimming and diving team opened the four-day NESCAC Championship on Thursday with 54 points during the 800-yard freestyle relay in Colby's Aquatic Center. Leading the way after night one is #11 Williams won the event with 90 points, while fourth-ranked Tufts is in second place (78 points). A three-way tie for third place after the first event consists of Connecticut College, #17 Amherst and Bates with 70 points apiece.  
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Middlebury's "A" team of Rodin McKenna, Pierce Bigelow, Ryan Mauney and Matthew Hensel posted a ninth-place time of 6:47.22 earning 42 points. The time narrowly missed the school record of 6:46.10 set in 2010.
• The "B" quartet of Jason Chiappinelli, Luke McNamara, Will Sonne and Andrew Planting finished with a time of 6:54.88 to earn 12 points for Middlebury.

NOTES

• The championship features five nationally ranked teams including the fourth-ranked Jumbos, 11th-ranked Ephs, 17th-ranked Mammoths, #18 Camels and #23 Colby.

The Panthers are back in action on Friday with preliminaries starting at 10:00 a.m., followed by diving at 2:00 p.m. and the finals in the evening.