Towson vs James Madison (W)
- Saturday, October 9, 2021
- Towson, MD
- Results
Courtesy: Towson Athletics
TOWSON, Md. — Landing two of the top three spots in 10 different events helped the Towson University women’s swimming and diving team to a 157-143 win over rival James Madison University in the teams’ season-opener on Saturday at Burdick Hall.
The Tigers (1-0) picked up crucial first-place points in nine events, including double wins from Karlee Carminati and Meagan Clark. The former won both distance events while Clark took first in the 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard breaststroke to help lead Towson over the reigning Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) champions.
James Madison won five events, leading off with a win in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1 minute, 46.21 seconds. JMU narrowed the edge in the 100-yard backstroke, sweeping the top three spots in the event.
How it Happened
- The 2021-22 season opener kicked off on the 3-meter board, with transfer Alyssa Largay winning the event with a 269.40. Sarah DiGaetano finished third with a 258.45 with freshman Abby O’Leary taking fifth with a 239.85.
- On the 1-meter board, DiGaetano took this overall with a 253.13 with Christina Coleman scoring a 246.98 for sixth-place points.
- Towson opened the swimming portion of the day with second and third-place finishes in the 200-yard medley relay, getting a combined 1:46.40 from Victoria Dichak, Katie Nunez, Maddie Mince and Hailey Ritter. Parker Schulz, Meagan Clark, Ava Enriquez and Shay Walker took third one second later to grab the last two points.
- Carminati took first in the 1000-yard freestyle, winning in 10:28.15, dropping 15 seconds from her best time last season (10:41.17). Rookie Bridget Thomas finished third in her collegiate debut, touching in 10:35.52.
- It was another 1-3 finish for Towson in the 200-yard free, led by Clark’s 1:52.86, a two-second gap over second place. Enriquez edged into third place with a 1:55.52, just three-hundredths of a second better than fourth place.
- The 100-yard breaststroke put two Tigers in first and second, with Nunez leading the way at 1:06.25 followed by Tiffany Matulis at 1:07.16.
- Samantha Casolo was the lone Tiger finisher in the top three of the 200-yard fly, stopping the clock in a winning time of 2:07.21 to win by half a second. Another freshman, Bella Brennan, and Holly Greenleaf added points at fourth (2:12.36) and fifth (2:12.93), respectively.
- In the sprint, Ritter took second in the 50-yard free with a 24.36 with Mince close in third at 24.63.
- After the first intermission, Nunez came back in the 100-yard freestyle to win the event at 52.21. Schulz added two points with a fourth-place time of 53.56.
- In the 200-yard backstroke, Suzannah Mills battled to a third-place finish with a 2:06.84; she was edged by just two-tenths of a second to take third.
- Another 1-2 finish awaited the Tigers in the 200-yard breaststroke with Clark taking first at 2:24.72 followed by Matulis in a time of 2:28.28.
- The distance pair of Carminati and Thomas scored another 1-2 finish for Towson in the 500-yard freestyle as the former took the win with a 5:08.53. In just her first collegiate meet, Thomas fought off two charging Dukes to take second with a 5:09.62, narrowly out-touching third place Grace Bousum’s 5:09.67.
- Rounding out the fly events, Towson got first and third from Ritter (56.50) and Mince (57.84) while Casolo added four-place points with a 57.94.
- The penultimate event put another seven points on the board for Towson as Nunez took second in 2:08.24 followed by Enriquez’s time of 2:08.47.
- Towson sealed the win with a 200-yard freestyle relay victory, winning the final event with a 1:36.27 from the grouping of Mince, Clark, Ritter and Schulz.
Behind the Numbers
- The Tigers won their sixth-straight meet at Burdick Pool, dating back to the 2018-19 campaign.
- It was Towson’s first win over James Madison since Jan. 22, 2011 and the Tigers first at home against the Dukes since Jan. 23, 2010. The two teams did not compete against one another from 2011-12 through 2017-18.
- The result ended a two-meet skid for the Tigers against James Madison.
- Towson’s 157 points were the most for the Tigers in a season opener since putting up 199 against Georgetown on Oct. 13, 2018 in a tri meet with James Madison at Burdick Pool.
- That meet was the last time Towson lost an event at home.
Up Next for the Tigers
- It’s a short week for the Tigers as Towson makes its way to the state capital on Friday.
- The Tigers take on the United State Naval Academy and Johns Hopkins in a tri-meet in Annapolis, Maryland.
- Action is set for a 4 p.m. start at the Mids’ Lejeune Hall.
Courtesy: James Madison Athletics
TOWSON, Md. – The James Madison swim & dive team fell in its season-opening meet against Towson, 157-143, on Saturday at Burdick Pool.
The divers started the meet off by claiming three of the four top spots in the 1-meter dive, with Maddie Yager and Lindsey Hammar claiming first and second, respectively. Both scores for Yager and Hammar were NCAA Zone Championship qualifying scores. Alexa Holloway then claimed the second spot in the 3-meter dive while Hammar finished fourth.
The swimmers then took their places along the pool, coming away with five first-place finishes in the 50 freestyle, the 100 backstroke, the 200 medley relay, the 200 backstroke, and the 200 IM. The Dukes’ swept the 100 backstroke, as Alaina Park finished with a time of 57.94 and was followed by Cameron Gring (58.17) and Lauren Aylmer (58.88).
Gring found herself in first place on multiple occasions in addition to her second-place finish in the 100 backstroke. She came out on top in the 200 backstroke and 200 medley relay as she placed in every event she swam in.
Quoting Head Coach Dane Pedersen
“It was great to compete today after a pandemic season fraught with uncertainties and unknown. Although protocols are still in place and the pandemic is not over, it was nice to have a sense of normalcy with competing. All credit goes to Towson today. They were the better team. They outraced and outdove us. We understand this is a long season and we have a lot of opportunities to improve through hard work. I have every belief this team will do just that.
Up Next
The Dukes will be back in the pool on Friday, Oct. 22 when they travel to take on Duquesne. The swimmers will compete at 4 p.m. at Duquesne’s Towers Pool while the divers will compete at 5:30 p.m. at Carnegie Mellon’s Swimming & Diving Pool.
