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JMU Swim & Dive to Compete in Sun Belt Conference
8/17/2023 2:00:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
NEW ORLEANS – James Madison swimming & diving will be competing in the Sun Belt Conference heading into the 2023-24 season, as the league announced on Thursday afternoon it will be sponsoring the sport.
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"After adding men's soccer and beach volleyball during the 2022-23 season, we are excited to once again expand our conference sport sponsorship with the return of Sun Belt women's swimming & diving," said Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Keith Gill. "We look forward to providing an enhanced conference championship experience for these programs under the Sun Belt Conference umbrella at the Rosen Aquatic & Fitness Center in 2024."
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Joining the Dukes in the Sun Belt will be Georgia Southern, Marshall and Old Dominion, with the championships being held from Feb. 14-17 at the Rosen Aquatic & Fitness Center in Orlando, Fla. The Sun Belt had previously sponsored women's swimming & diving from 2001-13.
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"We're thrilled for swimming and diving to join the majority of our other sport programs under the Sun Belt Conference umbrella," JMU Director of Athletics Jeff Bourne said. "The Sun Belt has proven itself to be a high-quality conference with a focus on championship experiences for its student-athletes. I look forward to our program continuing its championship culture while competing in first-class events against our conference peers."
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"We are very excited about the Sun Belt's dedication to our sport by their decision to sponsor swimming & diving again," said Head Coach Dane Pedersen. "We would like to thank Commissioner Gill, Sun Belt Deputy Commissioner Keane, and everyone else at the Sun Belt Conference office for all their hard work, energy and time to get this sponsorship off the ground."
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JMU enters the season coming off a second-place finish in the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association Championships last season, recording 25 program top 10 times and scores while 11 Dukes earned All-CCSA recognition. In addition, senior Maddie Yager was named the Most Outstanding Women's Diver of the Championship and KR Li earned Women's Diver of the Year honors.
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The Dukes have earned 12 conference titles in program history, including five straight from 2018-22. The first four were won while members of the Colonial Athletic Association before earning the Eastern College Athletic Conference title in 2022. JMU has also had six NCAA qualifiers in Kimberly Helfrich (2011), Sin Hye Won (2013), Shannon Dubay (2014), Olivia Lehman (2019, 2020), Bonnie Zhang (2019, 2020) and Julianna Jones (2020). The program is led by Pedersen, who is entering his tenth season at the helm of JMU and 17th overall in Harrisonburg. He has five CAA Coach of the Year honors and an ECAC Coach of the Meet laurel under his belt.
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"This move strengthens the long-term stability for our program in an ever-shifting athletic conference landscape," Pedersen added. "Creating this swim & dive conference from the ground floor with the other current Sun Belt members has been a unique, fun and special experience. We are excited about its creation and look forward to seeing what new affiliates it attracts in the near future."
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"After adding men's soccer and beach volleyball during the 2022-23 season, we are excited to once again expand our conference sport sponsorship with the return of Sun Belt women's swimming & diving," said Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Keith Gill. "We look forward to providing an enhanced conference championship experience for these programs under the Sun Belt Conference umbrella at the Rosen Aquatic & Fitness Center in 2024."
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Joining the Dukes in the Sun Belt will be Georgia Southern, Marshall and Old Dominion, with the championships being held from Feb. 14-17 at the Rosen Aquatic & Fitness Center in Orlando, Fla. The Sun Belt had previously sponsored women's swimming & diving from 2001-13.
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"We're thrilled for swimming and diving to join the majority of our other sport programs under the Sun Belt Conference umbrella," JMU Director of Athletics Jeff Bourne said. "The Sun Belt has proven itself to be a high-quality conference with a focus on championship experiences for its student-athletes. I look forward to our program continuing its championship culture while competing in first-class events against our conference peers."
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"We are very excited about the Sun Belt's dedication to our sport by their decision to sponsor swimming & diving again," said Head Coach Dane Pedersen. "We would like to thank Commissioner Gill, Sun Belt Deputy Commissioner Keane, and everyone else at the Sun Belt Conference office for all their hard work, energy and time to get this sponsorship off the ground."
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JMU enters the season coming off a second-place finish in the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association Championships last season, recording 25 program top 10 times and scores while 11 Dukes earned All-CCSA recognition. In addition, senior Maddie Yager was named the Most Outstanding Women's Diver of the Championship and KR Li earned Women's Diver of the Year honors.
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The Dukes have earned 12 conference titles in program history, including five straight from 2018-22. The first four were won while members of the Colonial Athletic Association before earning the Eastern College Athletic Conference title in 2022. JMU has also had six NCAA qualifiers in Kimberly Helfrich (2011), Sin Hye Won (2013), Shannon Dubay (2014), Olivia Lehman (2019, 2020), Bonnie Zhang (2019, 2020) and Julianna Jones (2020). The program is led by Pedersen, who is entering his tenth season at the helm of JMU and 17th overall in Harrisonburg. He has five CAA Coach of the Year honors and an ECAC Coach of the Meet laurel under his belt.
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"This move strengthens the long-term stability for our program in an ever-shifting athletic conference landscape," Pedersen added. "Creating this swim & dive conference from the ground floor with the other current Sun Belt members has been a unique, fun and special experience. We are excited about its creation and look forward to seeing what new affiliates it attracts in the near future."
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