Swimming & Diving Wins Virginia 529 CAA Championship

Saturday, February 25

Fairfax, Va.

TBA

James Madison University

day four

2/26/2012 3:10:00 AM | Swimming & Diving

FAIRFAX, Va., Feb. 25, 2012 – James Madison won another individual event title and broke five more school records as it wrapped up the program's sixth Colonial Athletic Association Championships at Jim McKay Natatorium in Fairfax, Va., on Saturday night.

JMU totaled 771 points to dominate the nine-team meet. Towson finished 146 points behind the Dukes with 625 points while UNCW took third with 494 points. William and Mary (476.5) came in fourth followed by Old Dominion (327.5) in fifth, Northeastern (276) in sixth, George Mason (253) in seventh, Delaware (238) in eighth and Drexel (134) in ninth.

JMU claimed three of the four major awards for the meet as head coach Samantha Smith was named the CAA Coach of the Year and head diving coach Becky Benson was named the CAA Diving Coach of the Year. Senior diver Nicole Jotso (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) was named the CAA Women's Most Outstanding Diver after finishing first on the one-meter board and second on the three-meter board. She finished 18th in individual points earned with 37 and was the top scorer amongst divers.

George Mason's Ashley Danner was named the Most Outstanding Swimmer after leading all participants in points scored. JMU placed eight athletes on the top-20 scorers list, topped by senior Eva Hannesdottir (Seltjarnarnes, Iceland/Kvennaskolinn) who tied for second with 57 points. Senior Catalina Mendieta (Parkland, Fla./Marjory Stoneman Douglas) was sixth with 51 points while junior Andrea Criscuolo (Point Pleasant, N.J./Point Pleasant) and sophomore Kelsey Holmgaard (Roanoke, Va./George Mason) came in 11th and 12th, respectively. Senior Melissa Helock (Scotch Plains, N.J./Scotch Plains Fanwood) and sophomore Morgan Johnson (Woodstock, Ga./Woodstock) made the list at 14th and 15th and divers Jotso and junior Kimberly Helfrich (Fort Belvoir, Va./West Springfield) checked in at 18th and 19th.

Helock got the evening started for Madison, finishing sixth in the 1,650-yard freestyle. The senior timed a 16:48.27 in the event while Johnson claimed seventh with a time of 16:49.26.

In the 200-yard backstroke, junior Anna Susko (Roxbury, N.J./Roxbury) broke her own school record and became the first swimmer in program history to break the two-minute mark in the event with a time of 1:59.93. She finished fifth. Junior Caroline Burns (Severna Park, Md./Severn School) added a 12th-place finish in the event with a time of 2:01.58.

Hannesdottir defended her title in the 100 freestyle, earning gold with a school record and “B” cut time of 49.54. Mendieta touched the wall at 50.69 to claim fourth while freshman Susanne Gingher (Boalsburg, Pa./State