After narrowly making the field, Fredonia sophomore Christian Krasnek (Springville, N.Y./Griffith Institute) took advantage of his opportunity Wednesday at the NCAA Division 3 Swimming & Diving championship meet.
Rallying from 22nd place after five voluntary dives during preliminaries, Krasnek finished 16th -- and earned Honorable Mention All-America status -- in men's 3-meter springboard diving at the national meet.
It was the 13th straight year Fredonia has had at least one diver, male or female, earn either All-America or Honorable Mention All-America recognition. In addition, Krasnek became the 12th Fredonia diver -- out of 12 who made the NCAA meet -- to receive national distinction of one sort or another.
On the national deck for the first time, Krasnek did not make the original 24-man field picked from the four regional meets two weeks ago. Instead, he was listed as the first alternate from Region 4 and only drew into the national field when another diver from the region scratched.
He started slowly Wednesday during preliminaries and earned 152.05 points after the five voluntaries, which was over 16 points short of 16th place and a spot in the consolation round. Following a five-minute break, he posted scores between 38.40 and 54.60 points on the six optional dives in his routine -- each one better than any of his voluntary scores. His preliminary score of 430.55 points was 15th best in the field.
"Christian has qualified for consolation finals!," an excited Fredonia Head Coach Arthur Wang texted from the Indiana University Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI. "He proved he belongs!!!"
Also in attendance was first-year diving coach Lauren Schaefer, who spent the final few days preparing Krasnek after he received his late invitation. She and Krasnek will now prepare for the 1-meter competition at 1 p.m. Friday.
