Dukes Advance to CAA POD Winner’s Bracket After Saturday Sweep

Saturday, November 5

Harrisonburg, Va.

8:30 A.M.

James Madison University

163.0

106.0

William & Mary

Dukes Advance to CAA POD Winner’s Bracket After Saturday Sweep

11/5/2016 8:43:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

@JMUSwimDive Meet Results Photo Gallery 2016-17 Schedule/Results

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Powered by record-breaking performances, James Madison swimming and diving kept its undefeated record in tact with a sweep of William & Mary and ECU inside Savage Natatorium Saturday to open the 2016 Colonial Athletic Association POD Meet.

The Dukes opened the first day of competition with tri-meet style action against the Pirates and the Tribe. JMU trailed William & Mary heading into the final six swimming events, but used two Savage Pool records to come from behind to top the Tribe, 163.0 to 106.0. The Dukes used their eight event wins on Saturday to claim a second victory with a 172.50 to 107.50 triumph over ECU. With Saturday's victories, JMU improved to 5-0 on the season.

Quinn MacMillan earned JMU first individual event victory of the morning when the junior tied with ECU's Marion Abert in the 200 freestyle with times of 1:51.68. For the third consecutive meet, junior Katie Parker swept both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes with times of 1:05.06 and 2:19.39, respectively.

The Dukes trailed the Tribe by one point heading into the final six swimming events, but freshman Bonnie Zhang began the Duke comeback with a 51.19 time in 100 free, her fastest finish of the season, to set a new Savage Pool record.

MacMillan earned her second individual victory in the 500 freestyle, earning the Dukes' second record-breaking performance. With her time of 4:57.87, the New Britain, Pa. native shattered a two decade record set by George Washington in 1995. Parker finished three hundredths of a second off a third pool record, winning the 100 butterfly with a new personal best of 56.99 for her third individual victory.

Senior diver Olivia Lehman swept the one-meter and three-meter diving competition with scores of 266.20 and 281.70, respectively, posting NCAA Zone Qualifying scores in both competitions. Freshman diver Hope Byrum placed third in the one-meter dive (241.75) while finishing fourth in the three-meter (218.65).

QUOTING COACH PEDERSEN
"It was a different style meet. We had some challenges and differences that we all weren't used to with the format of the meet. All of the coaches have been super great, accommodating and patient. I want to thank all the head coaches and teams for helping make this work. With that said, we had two really great teams on deck today in William & Mary and ECU. We knew they were going to give us everything we could handle. There was a lot of good racing. We told our girls that you just have to focus on yourselves and what we're doing. They did a really great job of doing that. They raced faster than I expected, and I contribute that to the energy they brought on deck."

TOP PERFORMANCES – VIEW FULL RESULTS
200 Medley Relay – Abby Ortman, Katie Parker, Mackenzie Gring, Bonnie Zhang (1:46.21 – 2nd)
400 IM – Claire Adkins (4:32.85 – 2nd)
100 Backstroke – MaryElizabeth Warhol (57.50 – 2nd)
50 Freestyle – Bonnie Zhang (23.92 – 2nd) (PR)
200 Backstroke – MaryElizabeth Warhol (2:04.15 – 2nd)
200 Freestyle Relay – Mackenzie Gring, Quinn MacMillan, Logan Haddock, Jillian Breeger

TWEET OF THE MEET
SHATTERING SAVAGE RECORDS
Two long-standing Savage Pool records were shattered by the Dukes during Saturday's competition as Bonnie Zhang and Quinn MacMillan helped propel JMU to a come-from-behind victory over the Tribe with their record-breaking performances. MacMillan shattered a two-decade old record in the 500 freestyle which was set in 1995, a year before the junior was even born. Zhang topped former Duke Eva Hannesdottir's pool record in the 100 free with a time of 51.19. Hannesdottir set the previous record during the 2012 season, the same year she represented Iceland at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

PARKER CONTINUES DOMINAING PERFORMANCE
With three individual event victories on Saturday, including her third consecutive sweep of the breaststroke events and setting a new personal record in the 100 butterfly, Katie Parker continues her dominating junior campaign for the Dukes. The Millersville, Md. native has garnered seven event victories this season with three second-place finishes. The junior has yet to finish outside of the top two spots in an individual race this season.

PHOTO OF THE MEET - VIEW FULL PHOTO GALLERY
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Senior diver Olivia Lehman swept Saturday's diving competition with event wins in the one and three-meter dives.

UP NEXT
JMU competes in the winner's bracket to close out the 2016 CAA Pod Meet on Sunday, Nov. 6 taking on Session B winner UNCW inside Savage Natatorium. The first event is slated to begin at 8:30 a.m.