THE FINAL BATTLE

JMU swim & dive falls narrowly versus Navy, 151-149, in long-awaited dual meet

By MADISON HRICIK The Breeze

Dane Pedersen quickly ran the numbers on his heat sheet again. He had 10 minutes to figure everything out and talk to his team. He compared his numbers for the Dukes against the numbers he had for Navy.

Music blared across Savage Natatorium. JMU swim and dive was in the middle of a mini dance party as the Dukes' head coach called the team together. They’d been competing since 10 a.m. It’s now almost 1:30 p.m., but no one cared. The meet would be decided by the results of the final two events: the 200-yard individual medley (IM) and the 200-yard freestyle relay.

Three scenarios were possible:

1. JMU needed to win the 200-yard IM and the relay to win the meet.

2. Place second in the IM and finish first and second in the relay to win, otherwise.

3. Navy would take the crown regardless of how JMU finished.

Navy freshman Lauren Walsh just outtouched JMU junior Jess Pryne, and JMU sophomore Grace Bousum finished third. That meant the Dukes had to take first and second to win the meet.

Well, JMU took first and third. Pedersen knew what that meant — JMU lost, 151-149. But he said he was still proud of JMU for making the final race matter against Navy.

“I told [the team], ‘We need to get second here,’” Navy head coach John Morrison said. “JMU was in one-two position to win the meet. And fortunately, our last two legs of the relay were able to make up some ground and pass the JMU second relay.”

It was senior day for JMU swim and dive, the final home meet of the year. Hosting Navy, a former ECAC foe, the Dukes had been waiting to race against the Midshipmen for 11 years.

But thanks to competing at the ECAC Open Championships last season, Pedersen worked with Morrison to get the two programs back in the pool this year. Pederson said he’s been trying to get on Navy’s schedule for five years, but they’re usually booked up.

“We saw them last year at ECAC because they hosted it, and I kind of planted another seed in his brain,” Pederson said. “So I think we got on his radar.”

The Dukes consistently performed well in both the 3- and 1-meter dives, a pattern that JMU has seen all season long. Sophomore diver Alexa Holloway and junior diver Lexi Lehman placed first and second in the 3-meter, with JMU junior Maddie Yager getting knocked from third by Navy freshman Mackenzie Kim in the final two rounds of the event.

Yager turned the tables in the 1-meter, winning the event by over 30 points (279.93). Senior diver Felicity Ryan made a comeback on her senior day, taking second after finishing last in the 3-meter, and senior Lindsey Hammar rounded out the JMU sweep with a third-place finish.

“I was very happy with my 1-meter performance today,” Ryan said. “And I felt like my dives were really strong and kind of consistent, but there's definitely a feel I could have done better.”

The results were the early shot-in-thearm the Dukes needed to help kickstart the swimming portion of the meet, taking first and third in the 200-yard medley relay. Then, JMU sophomore Abby Maguire took over the 1,000-yard freestyle, winning the event by over 3.2 seconds. The quick start had Navy get creative with who lined up on the blocks, according to Pedersen, but that was the fun of it for the Dukes.

“We really did not think we were gonna be even close to them,” redshirt senior Jordyn Schnell, who took back-to-back first-place finishes in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle, said. “And it was really exciting. I don't think any of us were thinking about the score the whole time. Like we didn't know what it was, we didn't know who was winning, who's losing — we just went for it.”

The strategy started to work. The Midshipmen swept two of the next three events — the 200-yard free and 100-yard backstroke.

The meet continued a pattern 1-and-3 finishes for JMU and 1-and-2 finishes for Navy, deadlocking the two in a back-andforth frenzy. It was exactly what Pedersen wanted the final home dual meet to look like.

“We got a lot of confirmation from this meet about the things we've been working on recently,” Pedersen said. “So from just an X's and O's swimming standpoint, from a coaching standpoint, that's what I really enjoyed seeing.”

Both head coaches said their goals for their respective programs were reached at the dual meet. Pedersen wanted the Dukes to start their races faster, and Morrison wanted the Midshipmen to finish their races stronger.

JMU and Navy both compete in their respective conference championships in a few weeks, JMU with the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association’s (CCSA) Feb. 15-18, and Navy in the Patriot League and the ECAC on Feb. 15-18 and Feb. 24-26, respectively.

Even though the Dukes’ senior day was slightly spoiled by the final relay race, the fact that JMU kept it as close as it did was a big accomplishment and a green flag for the U.Va. Invitational Feb. 3-5.

And a loud, crowded pool deck with echoes of cheering and whistles is just what Pedersen wanted for that last dual meet.

“I think, anytime, it's just good to challenge yourself,” Pedersen said. “I'm really excited, I hope that's a back and forth we can continue because they are consistently a very, very, very good program.”

CONTACT Madison Hricik at breezesports@ gmail.com. For more swim and dive coverage, follow the sports desk on Twitter @TheBreezeSports

from ACROSS THE GLOBE, page 13

She digs deeper than just the skill of the player and looks to really understand the international player for who they are off the field, just as much as who they are on it.

And how does she do that? Zoom.

“We make a personal connection,” Morgan said. “We meet the family and we talk about, not just how they play, but about other things they do in their lives, what’s important to them.”

Morgan and the JMU field hockey program look deep into a player’s personality to make sure they’ll be the right fit. Morgan looks for specific traits that fit the culture she’s built at JMU, namely an unselfish player with gratitude who supports “the greatness of their team and not just themselves.”

And when Morgan has players with great personalities who fit together, it contributes to having a connected team, she said — which represents everything that makes her team great.

“We are looking for the best of the best field hockey players who are the best of the best people,” Morgan said. “And the neat thing is that’s what we have right now.”

Men’s Golf

Carter Cheves doesn’t quite have the tenure of Zazenski and Morgan, but he does have experience and success recruiting internationally. Cheves began recruitingmen’s golfers internationally when he came to JMU as an assistant coach in 2013. His first experience was with tournaments taking place in the U.S. over winter break each year.

“There’s a couple of big tournaments over winter break down in Florida where a lot of international players actually come to the U.S. to play and get that experience in front of college coaches,” Cheves said. “So, I took an opportunity to go down there … and watch some international guys.”

In one of those Florida tournaments, Cheves found Jack Floydd (2014-2018) from England, who went on to have a successful career for the Dukes, shooting a career best 6-under-par 66 in the Seminole Intercollegiate his sophomore year, and had a top finish of seventh place at the Terrapin Invitational the same year. Floydd recently competed in the 150th Open Championship, where he shot 10-over-par in two rounds.

Cheves’ process initially began mostly online.