Dukes Cruise Past Herd on Senior Day

Sunday, January 27

Harrisonburg, Va.

11 AM

James Madison University

158

Marshall

1/27/2019 3:18:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

HARRISONBURG, Va. - It was a memorable Senior Day for James Madison swimming & diving as the Dukes toppled Marshall, 158-79, while breaking two pool records on Sunday afternoon in Savage Natatorium.

After winning 11 of 13 events in the meet, the Dukes finished out their regular-season dual schedule with a 9-2-1 record (4-0 CAA) while the Herd fell to 1-6.

Before the meet, JMU honored three seniors: Jillian Breeger, Kelly Long and Madison Oster.

MEET NOTES

JMU started the meet on a strong note, dominating the 200 medley relay as the Dukes took first, second and third place. Paige Assaid, Megan Marsh, Anna Ober and Jillian Breeger touched the wall at 1:44.22 which broke the pool record.
For the second consecutive meet, Oster garnered a first-place finish in the 1000 freestyle and Bailey Butler finished in second.
Kristie Darmody tied her season-best time in the 200 freestyle, earning herself a second-place finish while Jillian Santiago, Julianna Jones and Lauren Soleo finished third through fifth.
Bonnie Zhang got in on the record-breaking action as she captured first-place finish with a 23.34 mark in the 50 freestyle.
Marsh touched the wall first in the 200 IM with a season-best time of 2:07.63.
JMU placed first and second in the 3-meter diving event as Faith Anderson and Emily Gross both posted NCAA Zone qualifying scores of 299.71 and 290.25, respectively.
In the 1-meter dive, four Dukes compiled NCAA Zone qualifying scores while sweeping the podium. Gross finished in first with a score of 287.25, followed by Hope Byrum (282.76) and Anderson (276.60).
Santiago earned second place in the 100 freestyle with a time of 53.03.
Zhang won the 100 backstroke, touching the wall at the 55.97 mark while Assaid finished in second and Bronwyn Keating placed fourth.
JMU went 1, 2 and 3 in the 500 freestyle as Soleo garnered the first-place finish.
Jessica Pierce and Hannah Lagod captured first and second in the 100 breastroke.

BREAKING RECORDS

The previous 200 medley relay pool record was set in 2016 with a time of 1:44.39.
The former 50 freestyle pool record was set in 2004 with a time of 23.39.

QUOTING COACH PEDERSEN
"It's always good to come away with a win at home where our girls really swim and dive well, because they're comfortable here. You add in the fact that it was Senior Day and I think they wanted to come out strong to have a good performance for our seniors. I was interested to see how they responded after being on the road yesterday and overall, I was really pleased with how they raced. All around it was an awesome day and I'm really happy for our seniors!"

UP NEXT
JMU will compete in the Virginia Tech Invitational next weekend beginning on Friday, Feb. 1 and finishing up on Sunday, Feb. 3. The Dukes will also host the JMU Diving Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 2 and Sunday, Feb. 3.