The Fredonia diving team walked away from the NCAA Division III Championships in Shenandoah, Texas with four All-Americans. All four Blue Devil divers competing in the championships -- two men and two women -- earned either All-American or Honorable Mention All-American honors.
For the second time in three days Meghan Bartlett (Johnstown, N.Y./Johnstown) became an All-American, this time in the women's 1-meter springboard diving event. Her final score of 420.80 saw her finish in seventh out of the 24 divers competing at NCAA Division III Championships.
The top eight divers in the competition are named All-American, with 9-16 being named Honorable Mention All-American.
Senior Heather Colby (Owego, N.Y./Owego) earned Honorable Mention All-American status after winning the consolation finals on Friday, finishing ninth overall. Her final score was 413.4.
In his first trip to NCAA competition, sophomore Jeff Matter (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) delivered the most dynamic performance of the weekend on the 3-meter springboard. After just slipping into the finals as a top-eight finisher, Matter jumped up into fourth place Saturday evening with a 528.85 performance.
Matter's fourth-place finish on Saturday is the highest ever by a Blue Devil diver in the 3-meter on the men's side. On the women's side, Kelly Sponholz (2009) was a national champion in the event. Sponholz and Sarah Ficarro (2013) were both runner-ups.
Arron Carlson (LeRoy, N.Y./Notre Dame), after finishing 12th in the preliminary rounds on Saturday in the 3-meter dive, won the consolation finals by jumping up into ninth-place with a 505.9 score. His finish this year is a large improvement from his 23rd-place finish in the same event last year.
Carlson was named an Honorable-Mention All-American on Thursday for his ninth-place finish in the 1-meter dive.
Bartlett, Matter, and Carlson are all sophomores and will look to improve on their performances next year.
