NEWPORT NEWS - After claiming its first Atlantic 10 title in program history last season, the Duquesne swimming and diving team was picked as the preseason favorite for the 2018-19 A-10 Championship in a poll conducted of the league's 11 coaches released on Thursday.

The Dukes, led by 17th-year head coach David Sheets, received eight of the 11 first-place votes and tallied 117 total points, followed by Richmond second with one first-place vote and 106 points as well as Fordham third with two first-place nods and 97 points.

Duquesne returns nine swimmers who earned medals at the 2017-18 championship to help the Dukes claim the conference crown, led by A-10 Most Outstanding Rookie Performer Emma Brinton (Landenberg, Pa./Avon Grove), who collected a pair of gold medals in the 200 IM and the 400 IM to go with a bronze-medal showing in the 400-yard medley relay. All three medal-winning performances represented school records while her time of 4:15.90 in the 400 IM was also an A-10 Championship and pool record.

Sheets was named the A-10 Women's Swimming Coach of the Year for the second time in his career after guiding the Dukes to their first A-10 title. Duquesne tallied a program-record 567 points at last year's championship, besting second-place Richmond by nine points. The Spiders came into the meet having won 15 of the last 16 A-10 championships. All told, the Dukes finished with 13 medals at the 2017-18 championship.

The 2018-19 A-10 Women's Swimming and Diving Championships are slated for Feb. 20-23 at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

Following the Pentathlon/Alumni Meet on Friday, Oct. 5, Duquesne returns to action at Youngstown State on Saturday, Oct. 13 for a dual meet beginning at 11 a.m. ET.


2018-19 A-10 Women's Swimming and Diving Preseason Poll
1. Duquesne (8) – 117 
2. Richmond (1) – 106
3. Fordham (2) – 97 
4. George Washington – 96
5. UMass – 70
6. St. Bonaventure – 64
7. George Mason – 60
8. Davidson – 33
9. La Salle – 31
10. Saint Louis – 31
11. Rhode Island – 21