The Fredonia diving team walked away from the NCAA Division III Championships with another four All-Americans.All four Blue Devil divers competing in the championships earned either All-American or Honorable Mention All-American honors, capped off by two men's performances in the 3-meter springboard dive on Saturday.
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.
