James Madison University defeated host Georgetown University 180-118 while losing to conference mate Old Dominion University 166-130 in the season-opening women’s swimming and diving meet on Saturday afternoon.
JMU stands at 1-1 for the season while ODU improved to 2-0 and GU stands at 0-2.
“Overall, it was a good first showing and we did a lot of things well,” commented head coach Samantha Smith. “We have a lot of room to grow, but we are excited to get our first win. The upperclassmen did a great job of leading our team. Senior captains Gailey Walters (200 back) and Jamie Coyle (diving) were great examples of upperclassmen leadership. Our new class of freshmen really strengthens the team with added depth and speed in all our events. As we prepare for our next meet we will address some of our weaknesses and build off our strengths from this meet.”
Sophomore P.J. Naber (Chantilly, Va./Chantilly) won the 200-yard freestyle against both ODU and GU in a time of 1:56.17. She also got a win over the Hoyas in the 100-yard freestyle while finishing second to ODU in the event in 54:04 seconds.
Naber teamed with junior Meghan Heil (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park), sophomore Julie Stefanski (Westerly, R.I./Westerly), and sophomore Amanda Hauck (Woodbridge, Va./Forest Park) to win the 400-yard freestyle relay against both teams in 3:41.55.
Sophomore Christina Gennari (Westerville, Ohio/Trinity Catholic) also got a double win, taking first-place in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:12.08. The Dukes took three of the top four spots in the event with freshman Meredith Owenby (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin) in second in 2:13.66 and junior Jessica Lee (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin) in fourth in 2:14.40.
Senior Jamie Coyle (Rockville, Md./Wootton) started the season strong with a win over Georgetown and second place against ODU in the one-meter dive with a score of 203.35.
Freshman Lisa Colapietro (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) picked up a pair of second-place finishes with wins over Georgetown. She finished the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:29.17 and the 100 breast in 1:09.01.
Freshman Morgan McCarthy (New Castle, Del./St. Mark’s) was second in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:00.86 and third in the 100 butterfly in 1:00.38.
JMU took three of the top four spots in the 200-yard backstroke with senior Gailey Walters (Yorktown, Va./Tabb) finishing second in 2:14.32. Haucka followed in third in 2:16.05 and freshman Kerry Douglas (Yorktown, Va./Hampton Roads Academy) was fourth in 2:16.57.
The Dukes also got a relay win against the Hoyas in the 400-yard medley relay. The team of Walters, Colapietro, McCarthy, and Heil finished in 4:04.68.
JMU will be back in action on Friday with a 5 p.m. meet at Radford University along with Gardner-Webb University.
