Tufts Jumbos

Nickname for Tufts University athletics

Athletic teams representing Tufts University

Tufts Jumbos

University| Tufts University
Conference| NESCAC (primary)
NEISA
College Squash Association
NCAA| Division III
Athletic director| John Morris
Location| Medford, Massachusetts
Varsity teams| 29
Football stadium| Ellis Oval
Basketball arena| Cousens Gymnasium
Baseball stadium| Sol Gittleman Park
Softball stadium| Spicer Field
Soccer field| Bello Field
Aquatics center| Hamilton Pool
Lacrosse field| Bello Field
Rowing venue| William A. Shoemaker Boathouse
Sailing venue| Bacow Sailing Pavilion
Tennis venue| Vouté Courts
Outdoor track and field venue| Dussault Track & Field Complex
Other venues| Gantcher Center, Jackson Gym, Kraft Field, Tufts Squash Center
Mascot| Jumbo
Fight song| "Tuftonia's Day"
Colors| Tufts blue and brown[1]

Website| gotuftsjumbos.com

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.

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]

## Programs

[edit]

Men's sports  | Women's sports

|

Baseball | Basketball
Basketball | Cross country
Cross country | Fencing
Football | Field hockey
Golf | Golf
Ice hockey | Lacrosse
Lacrosse | Rowing
Rowing | Sailing
Sailing | Soccer
Soccer | Softball
Squash | Squash
Swimming and diving | Swimming and diving
Tennis | Tennis
Track and field | Track and field
| Volleyball
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor

## National championships

[edit]

### Team

[edit]

Sport  | Assoc.  | Division  | Year  | Rival/
Runner-up  | Score

|
|
|
|
|

Men's lacrosse (5)  | NCAA | Division III | 2010  | Salisbury | 9–6
2014  | Salisbury  | 12–9
2015  | Lynchburg | 19–11
2024  | RIT | 18–14
2025  | Dickinson | 25–8
Sport  | Assoc.  | Division  | Year  | Rival/
Runner-up  | Score

|
|
|
|
|

Men's Soccer (4)  | NCAA | Division III | 2014  | Wheaton College (Illinois) | 4-2
2016  | Calvin | 1-0
2018  | Calvin  | 2-1
2019  | Amherst College | 2-0

## Individual programs

[edit]

### Football

[edit]

Main article: Tufts Jumbos football

The Tufts football program is one of the oldest in the country. The 1,000th game in team history was played during the 2006 season.[4] Historians point to a Tufts versus Harvard game in 1875 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

[edit]

Main article: Tufts Jumbos 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

[edit]

Tufts tennis courts

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),[9] women's softball (three consecutive from 2013 to 2015),[10] men's lacrosse again (2014, 2015),[11] and men's soccer (2014, 2016, 2018, 2019).[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]

## References

[edit]

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. 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.
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. 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.
9. ^ a b "DIII Field Hockey". NCAA.com. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
10. ^ "DIII Softball". NCAA.com. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
11. ^ a b "DIII Men's Lacrosse". NCAA.com. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
12. ^ "DIII Men's Soccer". NCAA.com. Retrieved May 29, 2015.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tufts University athletics.

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