Tufts Jumbos

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Tufts Jumbos
Tufts Jumbos logo.svg
University Tufts University
Conference NESCAC (primary)
NEISA
College Squash Association
NCAA Division III
Athletic directorRyan Pisarri
Location Medford, Massachusetts
Varsity teams29
Football stadiumEllis Oval
Basketball arenaCousens Gymnasium
Baseball stadiumSol Gittleman Park
Softball stadiumSpicer Field
Soccer fieldBello Field
Aquatics centerHamilton Pool
Lacrosse fieldBello Field
Rowing venueWilliam A. Shoemaker Boathouse
Sailing venueBacow Sailing Pavilion
Tennis venueVouté Courts
Outdoor track and field venueDussault Track & Field Complex
Other venuesGantcher Center, Jackson Gym, Kraft Field, Tufts Squash Center
MascotJumbo
Fight song"Tuftonia's Day"
Colors Tufts blue  and brown [1]
   
Website gotuftsjumbos.com
Tufts university athletics logo.png

The Tufts Jumbos are the varsity intercollegiate athletic programs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. The Jumbos compete at the NCAA Division III level as a member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). Like all Division III schools, Tufts does not offer athletic scholarships. Coed and women's sailing are the only Division I sports at the school.

Contents

Tufts won the NACDA Directors' Cup in 2021–22 with the most successful athletic programs in NCAA Division III that year. [2]

The University mascot is named for Jumbo the elephant. P.T. Barnum donated this famous circus animal's stuffed hide to Tufts University, where it was displayed at the P.T. Barnum Hall for many years. The hide was destroyed in a fire in April 1975. The salvaged ashes of Jumbo were placed in a peanut butter jar, which continues to serve as a good luck charm for Tufts athletics teams. [3]

Sports sponsored

Men's sportsWomen's sports
BaseballBasketball
BasketballCross country
Cross countryFencing
Football Field hockey
GolfGolf
Ice hockeyLacrosse
LacrosseRowing
RowingSailing
SailingSoccer
SoccerSoftball
SquashSquash
Swimming and divingSwimming and diving
TennisTennis
Track and fieldTrack and field
Volleyball
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor

Football

The Tufts football program is the oldest in the country. Its first game was played on June 4, 1875 against Harvard which was won by Tufts 1-0. The 1,000th game in team history was played during the 2006 season. [4] Historians point to this Tufts versus Harvard game as the first game of college football using American football rules. [5] [6] The team plays at the Ellis Oval, located on the southwest corner of the campus.

Sailing

The Jumbos particularly stand out in sailing. The team competes in the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association, and has won the Leonard M. Fowle Trophy eight times. The Jumbos also won the 2001 Dinghy National Championship, and won more championships in the 1990s than any other team. Several world and Olympic champions have been a part of the Tufts Sailing Team; among them is Tomas Hornos (class of 2010), who was world champion in 2007, and Kaitlin Storck, who was awarded the ICSA Women's College Sailor of the Year trophy in 2008. Others include Roger Altreuter in 1975, R. Stuart Johnstone in 1980, Paul Dickey in 1981, and Senet Bischoff in 1996, who all won the ICSA College Sailor of the Year trophy.

Other sports

Men's Squash maintains a top 20 Division I national ranking. [7] Tufts University won its first NCAA-sanctioned national team championship when the men's lacrosse team defeated Salisbury in the 2010 Division III men's lacrosse final. [8] Since then, Tufts has captured NCAA Division III National Championships in women's field hockey (2012, 2025), [9] women's softball (three consecutive from 2013 to 2015), [10] men's lacrosse again (2014, 2015, 2024, 2025), [11] and men's soccer (2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2025). [12] Tufts teams also reached the 2008 championship game in women's field hockey [9] and the 2011 championship game in men's lacrosse. [11]

Facilities

Tufts tennis courts Tennis Courts, Tufts University, Medford MA.jpg
Tufts tennis courts
VenueSport(s)Open.Capac.Ref.
Ellis Oval Football
Track and field 		18944,400 [13]
Bello Field Soccer
Lacrosse 		2004n/a [14]
Sol Gittleman Park Baseball 2023n/a [15]
Cousens Gymnasium Basketball 19321,600 [16]
Ounjian Field Field hockey 2016n/a [17]
Spicer Field Softball 1959n/a [18]
Malden Valley Forum Ice hockey 2001n/a [19]
Tufts Squash Center1999n/a [20]

National championships

All the championships won in NCAA D-III.

SportTitle #YearRival / runner-upScore
Lacrosse (men's)12010 Salisbury 9–6
22014Salisbury12–9
32015 Lynchburg 19–11
42024 RIT 18–14
52025 Dickinson 25–8
Soccer (men's)12014 Wheaton College (Illinois) 4–2
22016 Calvin 1–0 (OT)
32018Calvin2–1
42019 Amherst College 2–0
52025 Trinity University 2–1(OT)
Softball12013 SUNY Cortland 6-0, 6-5
22014Salisbury1-2, 6-0, 6-0
32015 UT Tyler 2-0, 7-4
Field Hockey12012 Montclair St. 2-1
22025 Johns Hopkins 2-1
Rowing (women's)12024–
22025–

References

  1. ↑ Tufts University Visual Identity Standards Quick Guide (PDF). Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Tufts, Grand Valley and Texas Secure LEARFIELD Directors' Cups". National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. June 16, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Tufts Journal: Tufts at 150: Elephant tales". Tufts Journal. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Jumbo Football to Play 1,000th Game at Trinity on Saturday". Tufts University Athletics. October 9, 2006. Archived from the original on June 4, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Gridiron gridlock". The Boston Globe. September 23, 2004. Archived from the original on September 30, 2004.
  6. ↑ Smith, R.A. "Sports and Freedom: The Rise of Big-Time College Athletics", New York: Oxford University Press, 1988
  7. ↑ "Athletics Department – Tufts University". Ase.tufts.edu. Archived from the original on August 30, 2006. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  8. ↑ Mike Preston, Tufts tops Salisbury, 9–6, for Division III title; Sea Gulls fall behind early, can't catch up to Jumbos, The Baltimore Sun, May 30, 2010. [ dead link ]
  9. 1 2 "DIII Field Hockey". NCAA.com. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  10. ↑ "DIII Softball". NCAA.com. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  11. 1 2 "DIII Men's Lacrosse". NCAA.com. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  12. ↑ "DIII Men's Soccer". NCAA.com. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  13. ↑ Ellis Oval/Zimman Field
  14. ↑ Bello Field
  15. ↑ Sol Gittleman Park
  16. ↑ Cousens Gymnasium
  17. ↑ Ounjian Field
  18. ↑ Spicer Field
  19. ↑ Malden Valley Forum
  20. ↑ Tufts Squash Center
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