Dukes Edged by Liberty

Saturday, October 20

Harrisonburg, Va.

11 AM

James Madison University

139.5

160.5

Liberty

10/20/2018 3:17:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

@jmuswimdive Results Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison swimming & diving dropped their first meet of the season after being edged by Liberty, 160.5-139.5, in Savage Natatorium on Saturday afternoon.

The Dukes fall to 3-1 overall while hold a 1-0 record in Colonial Athletic Association meets. The Flames improve to 3-0 on the season.

MEET NOTES
- Madison Oster recorded the first individual win for the Dukes, clocking in with a time of 10:22.77 in the 1,000 freestyle for JMU's quickest time of the season. Julianna Jones wasn't far behind with her second-place time of 10:24.41.
- In the 200 freestyle, Bonnie Zhang notched her second first-place finish of the season with a time of 1:49.44 for her best performance of the season.
- Paige Assaid posted a season-best time of 56.46 in the 100 backstroke, while Morgan Whaley's 2:09.02 time in the 200 butterfly was also Whaley's season best.
- Hope Byrum produced NCAA Zone qualifying performances on both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives with scores of 274.20 and 285.90, respectively.
- With her score of 276.22 in the 1-meter dive, Faith Anderson also tallied an NCAA Zone qualifying mark and a first-place finish.
- Jillian Breeger (52.02) and Sydney Kirsch (52.35) nabbed the top two spots on the podium in the 100 freestyle.
- Megan Marsh swam a season-best 2:25.60 in the 200 breastroke.
- The 200 freestyle relay team of Breeger, Kirsch, Mackenzie Gring and Zhang ended the meet on a high note, winning the relay with a time of 1:33.92 - the fastest time of the season for the Dukes.

QUOTING COACH PEDERSEN
"I thought the girls did a good job racing today. Our energy could have been a little bit better, especially during the first diving break, but they were aware of that and did a good job correcting it. They did a good job during and after the second diving break. We did a really good job of supporting our divers and each other. There were a lot of good things that they did with a lot of good training going on. It was good to see but there's also a lot of corrections to make and things to build upon. Having a Thursday meet followed by a difficult Saturday meet is different for us. Being able to experience that and see how they responded helped me learn a lot from a coaching standpoint and about what we can build upon as we move forward."

UP NEXT
The Dukes return to action on Nov. 3-4 to compete in the annual CAA POD Meet. JMU will face off against host Delaware, UNCW and William & Mary.