Belson, Helly Punch Tickets to NCAA Championships
CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Ithaca College women's swimming and diving team sent four divers to the NCAA Region Four Diving Championships over the weekend, competing on Friday and Saturday at Cortland's Harriet Holston Pool. The Bombers competed on the 1-meter board in an 11-dive format on Friday, before completing the meet on Saturday with the 3-meter dive.
Overall, four divers from the women's team contended for one of seven spots in the upcoming NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships in Greensboro, N.C. March 16-19 including
Anna Belson,
Lindsey Suddaby,
Katie Helly and
Alyssa Wishart.
National qualifiers were determined by alternating between the Day 1 highest finisher and the Day 2 highest finisher, with divers already invited being skipped if they come up again. Divers who advanced to nationals will be permitted to compete on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards, regardless of which board(s) they qualified on at regionals.
Helly punched her ticket to the national championship on Friday after finishing fourth overall in the 1-meter dive with a composite score of 423.80. Belson finished eighth overall in the event with 403.85 points while Suddaby placed 10th out of 26 divers with a mark of 397.90. Wishart finished in 11th place with 395.15 total points. R.I.T.'s Natalie Snyder won the event with 450.30 points in all.
On Saturday, Belson earned a trip to Greensboro after finishing second overall on the 3-meter board with 444.85 points. Suddaby finished fourth overall in the event and will serve as an alternate after earning 439.85 points. Helly earned a top-five finish as well, placing fifth overall with 438.45 total points. Wishart finished 13th out of 24 entries. Cortland's Miranda Fergus won the 3-meter dive with 459.45 points.
OFFICIAL NATIONAL QUALIFIERS:
1) Natalie Snyder (RIT) (1st place, 1 meter)
2) Miranda Fergus (Cortland) (1st place, 3 meter)
3) Meghan Kilgallon (Brockport) (3rd place, 1 meter) (since Fergus was 2nd on 1 meter)
4)
Anna Belson (Ithaca) (2nd place, 3 meter)
5)
Katie Helly (Ithaca) (4th place, 1 meter)
6) Meghan Bartlett (Fredonia) (3rd place, 3 meter)
7) Machika Kaku (Carnegie Mellon) (6th place, 1 meter) (since Bartlett was 5th on 1 meter)
Alternates:
Lindsey Suddaby (Ithaca) (4th place, 3 meter)
Claudia Kolakowski (Geneseo) (7th place, 1 meter)