Women's Swimming and Diving | 3/21/2024 9:24:00 PM
GREENSBORO, NC – Senior diver Alexa Rizzo of Nazareth University capped a fantastic day with a strong third-place finish and All-American honors in the 1-meter diving competition at the NCAA Championships Thursday night.
Rizzo qualified for the championship final (top eight divers) with an eighth-place finish in the preliminary 11-dive round in the morning session. She scored a 416.35 to place eighth by 0.60 points. The finish assured her of All-American honors.
The top eight divers competed in the evening session with the six optional dives and Rizzo was on top of her game with all scores in the 40's and her second dive – a forward 2 ½ somersault pike – scored a 58.50 with five of the seven judges giving her a 7.5 score.
She added a second 50 score on her fourth dive with a reverse 1 ½ somersault pike scoring a 50.40 with four 7.0 scores and a pair of 7.5 scores from the judges.
Rizzo sealed the top-three finish with a solid 49.50 on her final dive with a forward 1 ½ somersault and one twist in the free position. She was awarded six 7.5 scores and one 8.0 on the dive.
The third-place finish was the highest for a Nazareth diver since Kama Grattet won the national championship in 1-meter diving in 1985. It was also the best finish in diving by an Empire 8 student-athlete since Nickie Griesemer of Ithaca College earned runner-up honors in the 3-meter diving in 2017.
Rizzo finished 21st in the the 3-meter diving competition preliminaries on Saturday.
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