HARRISONBURG, Va. -- A 1-2-3 finish in four of its seven event victories helped the Navy women's swimming and diving team (8-4) to a 153-146 win over James Madison (2-5), Saturday at Savage Natatorium in Harrisonburg, Va.

"Thank you to James Madison for hosting a great meet," said Navy women's swimming head coach John Morrison.  "We were very proud to be here and help them recognize their senior class.  They swam amazingly.  We were fortunate and proud of our team for staying close throughout the meet. Our resilience paid dividends in the final three races."

The Dukes, who have won the last two Sun Belt Conference titles, opened up a 23-13 lead through two events.  Navy won the ensuing three races to take a 57-36 lead.  Allie Maloney led a 1-2-3 finish for the Mids in the 200 free with her winning time of 1:52.21.  Ela Habjan followed with a victory in the 100 back thanks to her time of 56.98.  Corinne Warriner then paced a sweep of the top-three placings in the 100 breast with her time of 1:03.89.

James Madison won the next four races to reclaim a 90-79 advantage through the first race of the second half of the meet.  Maloney broke the run with a victory in the 200 back with her time of 2:05.57.  Maddie Koutavas followed with a 1-2-3 placement for the Mids in the 200 breast.  He winning time of 2:02.23 plus the second and third-place showings by her teammates propelled the Mids into a 106-101 lead.

Navy swimmers placed second, third and fourth in the 500 free, which erased just one point from its lead.  Jules McCranie then posted a time of 57.57 as Mids also claimed second and third places in the 100 fly to boost Navy out to a 131-114 advantage.  However, once the earlier one-meter diving results were included, the Navy lead was winnowed down to 137-127.  

The last individual event of the meet saw Lauren Walsh win the 200 individual medley in a time of 2:05.95.  Her effort, and a third-place showing by the Mids, gave Navy a 149-134 lead.  This meant Navy had to have only one of its entries in the 200 free relay finish to secure the victory.  Navy did even better as its top team placed second to account for the final points of the afternoon.

"While this definitely was a team effort to earn a close victory," said Morrison, "Allie Maloney stepped up huge in her three races and our entire breaststroke corps led by Corinne Warriner made significant gains to keep the meet close.

"It was a great way to close out our regular season.  We are in a good place for a strong championship season, but we know we still have work to do in order to achieve that."

The Mids will play host to the Navy Invitational Jan. 31 in Lejeune Hall.