James Madison raced its way to a victory against Liberty today in Virginia.
JMU Press Release
HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison swimming and diving toppled Liberty in the Dukes's 2016-17 season opener Saturday afternoon in Savage Natatorium, delivering the Flames their first loss of the year. Liberty fell to 5-1 on the season as James Madison recorded its first victory in its season opener.
Madison claimed the top spot in eight of the 16 events, including stringing together three consecutive event wins, highlighted by a sweep on the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions.
Junior Quinn MacMillan earned the first top finish of the day for the Dukes in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:52.36. The New Britain, Pa. native also notched a victory in the 500 freestyle (5:01.61), finishing six seconds ahead of fellow Duke Claire Adkins as the Dukes swept the top two spots.
Katie Parker swept the 100 and 200 breaststroke events with 1:05.38 and 2:21.95 times, respectively. Freshman Bonnie Zhang earned her first event victory as a Duke with a 51.42 time in the 100 freestyle.
James Madison notched its final swim event victory when junior Abby Ortman(2:05.35), freshman Emma Gourdie (2:05.41) and senior MaryElizabeth Warhol(2:06.18) swept the top spots in the 200 backstroke.
The Dukes swept both diving competitions as freshman Carlyn McNeely claimed the top spot on the 3-meter dive with a score of 318.90 and senior Olivia Lehman tallied a 297.82 score on the 1-meter dive to win the event.
QUOTING COACH PEDERSEN
"Any time you can get a victory in a meet is a big plus. There is a lot of moving pieces that go on in a meet. We had a lot of things we were looking at, whether it was technique, race strategies or individual events. It was the first time we saw our freshman race for JMU. We were evaluating a lot of things along with just the wins and the losses. We have a lot to digest, but it was a really good first step. We are thrilled about the win over a quality opponent."
MCNEELY AND LEHAM POST ZONE A QUALIFYING SCORES
Freshman Carlyn McNeely made a splash in her James Madison debut, posting NCAA Zone A qualifying scores in both the 3-meter (318.90) and 1-meter (294.45) dives. Senior Olivia Lehman also posted a NCAA Zone A qualifying score on the 1-meter dive with a 297.82 final score.
Liberty Press Release
HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Liberty swimming & diving team took a 5-0 record into its meet at James Madison on Saturday. However, the host Dukes posted a 168.5-125.5 victory over the Lady Flames at the Savage Natatorium.
With the win, JMU opens its season at 1-0, while the Lady Flames are now 5-1 following the conclusion of the dual-meet portion of their fall schedule. James Madison takes a 3-2 lead in the all-time series with today’s victory.
Liberty won seven individual events and both relay races. Brittany Weiss (100 back, 100 fly) and Prudence Rooker (100 breaststroke, 200 IM) both won two events, while Delia Weber (1,000 free), Alicia Finnigan (200 fly) and Rachel Hoeve (50 free) earned one win apiece for the Lady Flames.
The Lady Flames opened the meet by claiming the 200 medley relay, with the quartet of Victoria Tschoke, Rooker, Weiss and Hoeve clocking 1:45.23.
Weber swam 10:28.93 for the 1,000 free victory, while Dani Jordan finished fifth in 10:40.29.
Weiss out-touched JMU’s Abby Orton for first place in the 100 back, as Weiss won by .01 in 57.57. Tschoke’s 59.05 was good for fourth place.
In the 100 breaststroke, Rooker and Katie Parker tied for the victory, as both swimmers touched the wall in 1:05.38. Liberty’s Ricki Lee Hodges took fourth place with a 1:07.80 effort.
Finnigan claimed the 200 fly, swimming 2:05.21, while Ashley Mauzy finished fifth in 2:14.81.
Hoeve picked up the 50 free victory, turning in a 23.65. Colleen Donlin (24.53) and Hannah Baker (24.55) placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
Weiss earned her second event win of the day, clocking 57.66 to take the 100 fly. Finnigan followed in third with a 58.33, while Shelby Black swam 59.23 for fifth position.
Rooker’s second victory came in the 200 IM, as the junior won in 2:07.09.
The Lady Flames won the meet-ending 400 free relay in 3:28.58, with Weiss, Baker, Chelsea Pond and Hoeve combining for the winning time.
Parker won the 200 breaststroke in 2:21.95, with Rooker following closely behind in 2:22.16. Morgan Noonan earned third place with a 2:25.32.
Hoeve came in second in the 100 free, swimming 51.93 for runner-up honors. Baker clocked 53.27 for third, while Pond claimed fifth in 53.75.
Baker’s 200 free time of 1:54.75 was good for third place.
Weber finished third in the 500 free after swimming 5:08.73, while Elizabeth Magnusson took fourth in 5:13.73.
JMU took the top three spots in the 200 back, while Liberty’s Finnigan (2:07.00) and Tschoke (2:08.50) took fourth and fifth, respectively.
Liberty next competes in the Frank Elm Invite, hosted by Rutgers, Nov. 18-20 in Piscataway, N.J. This will be the Lady Flames’ second year in a row attending the Frank Elm Invite.
