Battle of the Dukes Ends with JMU Victory

Thursday, October 18

Harrisonburg, Va.

5 PM

James Madison University

182.5

95.5

Duquesne

10/18/2018 8:42:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

@jmuswimdive Meet Results Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Two Savage Natatorium records were broken as James Madison women's swim & dive won 11 individual events to triumph over Duquesne, 182.5-95.5, Thursday evening to open its home slate of the 2018-19 season.

The JMU Dukes (3-0, 1-0 CAA) remain undefeated on the season as the Duquesne Dukes (1-1) drop their first dual meet of the season.

MEET NOTES
- JMU started the meet off on the right foot, taking the win in the 200 freestyle relay, thanks to the team of Jillian Breeger, Sydney Kirsch, Mackenzie Gring and Bonnie Zhang. They broke the first pool record of the evening with a time of 1:34.01.
- Julianna Jones (5:05.68), Sidney Whitfield (5:06.97) and Lauren Soleo (5:07.71) took the top three spots in the 500 freestyle.
- With a time of 24.18, Sydney Kirsch took first in the 50 freestyle and was followed by Breeger and Kristie Darmody with times of 24.23 and 24.95, respectively.
- Megan Marsh and Paige Assaid both notched two event wins on the night. Marsh clocked in at 30.03 for a first-place finish in the 50 breaststroke, then, later in the meet, just barely beat out a Duquesne swimmer with a mark of 1:05.67 in the 100 breaststroke. Assaid's first-place 56.53 time in the 100 backstroke was followed by a first-place time of 26.26 in the 50 backstroke.
- Four Dukes achieved NCAA Zone qualifying marks in the 1-meter dive: Hope Byrum (283.95), Emily Gross (271.89), Sarah Stim (265.81) and Faith Anderson (265.65).
- Gross came out on top after her NCAA Zone qualifying score of 282.15 in the 3-meter dive, while Anderson came in second with a score of 263.70.
- Darmody added her first top finish of the night during the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:53.68.
- Bonnie Zhang broke the second pool record with a 50.15 in the 100 free. She originally set the record with a time of 51.19 in 2016.
- Morgan Whaley added yet another JMU first-place finish with a time of 57.12 in the 100 butterfly.

QUOTING COACH PEDERSEN
"Really happy with the win, I felt like the girls did a really good job with the energy at our first home competition. They did a really great job of being supportive and their efforts. They did a lot of fast swimming but there are still a few things to work on. It was a different kind of meet because the swimming portions happened so quickly, so the swimming had a different kind of demand as far as staying focus and I though they did a really good job at it."

UP NEXT
The Dukes close out their weekend with another home meet – this time hosting Liberty on Oct. 20 at 11 a.m.