Dukes Win First CAA Title in Six Years

Wednesday, February 14

Christiansburg, Va.

James Madison University

CAA Championships

2/17/2018 10:53:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – The James Madison swimming and diving team won the 2018 Colonial Athletic Association title behind a 656 point total finish on Saturday evening at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center. This is the Dukes first league title since 2012, eighth overall and is the first for Head Coach Dane Pedersen.

After finishing the first day of competition in last place, the Dukes came back and led the final three days to seal the victory. Last year's champions, William & Mary finished in second with 583 points, followed by Towson in third with 562.5 points.

Sophomore Hope Byrum turned in a NCAA Zone Qualifying Mark of 295.70 on the 1-meter board to take home the gold. She was also awarded the Most Outstanding Diver award after her stellar performances on both boards over the course of the championships. Freshman Amy Plocharczyk garnered a third-place finish in the 1-meter competition with 251.15, taking home her first individual CAA medal.

The Dukes began the evening with a second-place finish in the 1650 freestyle as sophomore Julianna Jones clocked in at 16:43.31. Senior Quinn MacMillan (16:54.81) and junior Madison Oster (16:59.69) finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

Senior Abby Ortman touched the wall in 1:58.39 in the 200 backstroke, winning a silver medal to end her collegiate campaign.

In the 100 freestyle, sophomore Bonnie Zhang took home the silver with NCAA B Cut time of 49.72. This was Zhang's third individual medal of the championships as she also took second in the 200 freestyle and second in the 50 freestyle.

The Dukes capped off the historic night with a second-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay as Jillian Breeger, Sydney Kirsch, Mackenzie Gring and Zhang teamed up for a 3:22.10 finish.

CAA HONORS

Sophomore Hope Byrum was named the Most Outstanding Diver of the Meet. This was JMU's 7th time earning the title.
Head Coach Dane Pedersen was honored as CAA Coach of the Year. This was his second time earning the honor after sharing it last season.
Head Diving Coach John Wolsh was named the CAA Diving Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. This was also the 7th time in eight years a JMU coach has won the honor.

SENIOR SEND OFF
"JMU swimming and diving has changed my life. It's the greatest program in the entire world. The girls here are one of a kind and the coaching staff is amazing." -Abby Ortman
"It's been a long time coming and we worked so hard. We were tired of coming in second every year and this is the cherry on top of my career." -Quinn MacMillan
"Four years of hard work with the seniors and we've been family since day one. We came in the first day of the season saying this is what we want to do and we knew that in order to do that, we needed the freshmen, sophomores, juniors, divers and the coaches to be an adhesive unit." -Katie Parker

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. James Madison – 656
2. William & Mary – 583
3. Towson – 562.5
4. Northeastern – 477.5
5. Drexel – 443
6. UNCW – 374
7. Delaware – 227

OTHER FINAL PERFORMANCES
1650 Freestyle
5^th Quinn MacMillan – 16:54.81
6^th Madi Oster – 16:59.69
16^th Kelly Long – 17:25.32

200 Backstroke
7^th Paige Assaid – 2:01.51
14^th Courtney Clarke – 2:03.15

100 Freestyle
6^th Jillian Breeger – 50.72
9^th Sydney Kirsch – 50.65
16^th Mackenzie Gring – 52.02

200 Breastroke
10^th Megan Marsh – 2:18.54

200 Butterfly
15^th Katie Parker – 2:05.00

1-Meter Dive
5^th Emily Gross – 247.60
6^th Sami Ullman – 246.35
9^th Sarah Stim – 266.95 (Zone Qualifying)
11^th Faith Anderson – 254.45

UP NEXT
The divers who reached Zone Qualifying Marks this season will attend the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships March 5th and 6th in New Brunswick, NJ. The swimmers will await for an invitation to the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships. The competition is slated to begin March 15-18 in Columbus, Ohio.