Win in Final Event of Meet Lifts Dukes Past Villanova

Friday, January 17

Harrisonburg, Va.

10 a.m. - Diving/12 p.m. Swimming

James Madison University

153

147

Villanova

1/17/2025 3:05:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Tied at 132-all heading into the final two events of the day, James Madison swim & dive used a first-place finish in the final event of the meet to take down Villanova, 153-147, inside Savage Natatorium on Friday for its first home meet of the season.

JMU won nine of the 16 events, with senior Alexa Holloway, junior Jamie Cornwell and freshman Madison Wimmer each winning a pair of events. Redshirt senior Jess Pryne and sophomore Riley Bridgman also took home first-place finishes, in addition to the Dukes' 400 Free Relay win.

Diving

Holloway swept the boards for JMU, qualifying for the 3-meter board at the NCAA Zone Diving Championships with a score of 305.03. She followed that with a score of 297.68 on the 1-meter board, her fourth zone qualifying score this season on the 1-meter.
JMU swept the 3-meter board, with juniors Maddie O'Mera (298.05) and Natalie Jones (288.00) finishing in order behind Holloway with zone qualifying scores.
After qualifying for the 3-meter board, Jones placed second on the 1-meter with a score of 279.00 to qualify for the 1-meter as well.

Individual Swimming

Wimmer gave JMU its first swimming meet of the day, swimming a time of 1:52.03 in the 200 Free. Later on, Wimmer would also take first place in the 500 Free, securing the victory with a time of 5:03.87.
In the 100 Breast, Bridgman swam a time of 1:05.26 to claim the victory.
Cornwell won back-to-back events, earning victories in the 50 Free (23.66) and the 100 Free (51.97). Her 50 Free time was 0.36 seconds away from the pool record. In both races, she was followed by juniorAlex Volk for second place with respected times of 24.15 and 52.57.
With the score tied at 132 entering the final individual event of the meet, Pryne bested the next time by over three seconds as she won the 200 IM with a time of 2:05.43.

Relays

The teams split the two relays for the meet, as the Wildcats won the 200 Medley Relay to begin the swimming portion of the day.
The pair of JMU teams finished second and third in the relay, with the team of Sarah Pauley, Bridgman, Ann Chappell Ellington and Alex Volk swimming a time of 1:45.15. They were followed at 1:46.52 by Alli Straub, Suzanne Earnshaw, Grace Bousum and Cornwell.
A first-place finish for the Dukes in the 400 Free Relay to conclude the meet secured the meet victory for JMU. The team of Wimmer, Volk, Riley Nugent and Cornwell swam a time of 3:28.52, besting the second-place team by almost three seconds.

Quoting Head Coach Dane Pedersen
"Exciting team win today! After being tied at the last break, the meet came down to the last relay which is rare and the most fun position to be in. Huge shoutout to our divers who put the swimmers in a position to be successful. Our girls did a great job racing tough while being relaxed. I was really happy with everything all around."

Up Next
The Dukes will remain in their home pool for their next meet, hosting Richmond on Saturday, Jan. 25 at Savage Natatorium. The meet will serve as Senior Day, with diving beginning at 10 a.m. and swimming to follow at noon.