Dukes Earn Multiple Program Top 10 Times to Conclude American Championship

Saturday, February 21

Greensboro, N.C.

Prelims - 10:30 a.m. / Finals - 6 p.m.

James Madison University

Day Four

Dukes Earn Multiple Program Top 10 Times to Conclude American Championship

2/21/2026 9:03:00 PM | Swimming & Diving

GREENSBORO, N.C. – James Madison swimming & diving produced multiple top 10 times on the final day of the 2026 American Championship inside the Greensboro Aquatic Center on Saturday.

The Dukes recorded program top 10 times in the 100 Free, 1000 Free, 1650 Free, 200 Back, 200 Breast and 400 Free Relay.

JMU finished seventh with 787 points, as Rice won the American title with 1,404.5 points.

Prelims

In the 100 Free, senior Jamie Cornwell swam a time of 49.75 to finish fourth. Classmate Alex Volk placed 14^th with a time of 50.68, while freshman Emory Hill finished 18^th with a time of 51.18.
Five Dukes moved on to finals in the 200 Back, with freshmen Emma Durham (9^th, 1:59.78) and Maria Costa (13^th, 2:00.45) moving to the B Final with senior Riley Nugent (11^th, 2:00.33). Senior Sarah Pauley finished 17^th with a time of 2:01.82 and sophomore Alli Straub swam a time of 2:03.22 to finish 22^nd.
Senior Ann Chappell Ellington (17^th, 2:18.48), junior Riley Bridgman (20^th,2:19.89) and freshman Lily Moore (24^th, 2:22.25) advanced to the finals of the 200 Breast.
On the platform, sophomore Emma LaFountain qualified for the finals with a score of 188.95. Redshirt Natalie Jones also finished with a score of 168.00 for 23^rd.

Finals

Sophomore Madison Wimmer swam a time of 16:48.11 in the 1650 Free, finishing fourth. Her time is fifth in the program's top 10 and her 1000 split of 10:10.94 is eighth.
Cornwell finished fourth in the A Final of the 100 Free with a time of 49.07. Volk placed third in the B Final with a time of 50.49. In the C Final, Hill finished sixth behind a time of 51.90.
In the B Final of the 200 Back, Costa won the heat with a time of 1:59.26 that is good for 10^th in program history. Durham finished the heat third with a time of 1:59.59 and Nugent was right behind in fourth with a time of 1:59.62. Pauley (2:01.82) and Straub (2:02.13) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the C Final.
The final individual swimming event of the championship saw Ellington swim a time of 2:17.88 in the C Final of the 200 Breast. Her time puts her ninth in program history. Moore swam a time of 2:20.63 to finish sixth in the heat.
LaFountain finished sixth on the platform in the B Final, scoring a 186.45.
To finish the night, the team of Wimmer, Volk, Hill and Cornwell finished fourth in the 400 Free Relay with a time of 3:19.83, being edged out of third place by two hundredths of a second. Their time is the second fastest 400 Free Relay time in program history. Wimmer also entered the top 10 of the 100 Free, as her leadoff of 50.06 is eighth in program history.

Up Next
The Dukes will compete in the ECAC Championships in Lewisburg, Pa., hosted by Bucknell, on Feb. 27-March 1.