McLaughlin's Gold Leads Three Dukes in Top Four at CAAs

Saturday, February 21

Newark, Del.

James Madison University

CAA Diving Championships

2/22/2015 9:51:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

NEWARK, Del. - Redshirt sophomore Taryn McLaughlin completed her sweep of the Colonial Athletic Association Diving Championships, taking the gold medal in the one-meter event on Sunday evening.

McLaughlin, who won the three-meter event on Saturday evening, took first place on Sunday with a score of 320.25, besting second place by more than 20 points. Her wins earned her Women's Most Outstanding Diver for the second CAA Championships in a row and notched her the first back-to-back sweep of the diving events since Drexel's Kate Hynes won both boards four consecutive years from 2006-09.

The Dukes dominated the one-meter finals, putting two more divers in the top four in the evening finals. Sophomore Olivia Lehman, who earned runner-up honors in last night's three-meter, made her second trip to the podium this weekend with a 290.00 in the finals to earn a bronze medal on Sunday night.

After taking eighth place in the morning preliminaries, junior Carly Alexander jumped four spots in the finals, turning in a score of 286.40 to take home fourth place and cap the Dukes' stellar evening. The standout performances of the Dukes' divers on the weekend earned Head Diving Coach Becky Benson her sixth consecutive Women's Diving Coach of the Year honor.

"This was one of the toughest CAAs that my divers have faced," Benson said. "They came together as one unit and it showed in the results. I am very proud of their composure, sportsmanship and effort."

All three of the Dukes' competitors at the CAA Championships have already qualified for NCAA Zone A Championships, which will be held in Piscataway, N.J. on March 9-10. The JMU swimmers will be in action next weekend at the CAA Swimming Championships, held in Richmond, Va. on Feb. 25-28.