BROOKE ATKINS and TORIN O’BRIEN
Social Media Manager and Special to The Leader
The early morning practices, traveling, and preparation came down to one final meet for three Fredonia divers.
Senior Rafael Santiago, and juniors Arron Carlson and Meghan Bartlett traveled to Greensboro, North Carolina, for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Nationals.
For Carlson, this marked his third consecutive trip to the championship, and he didn’t disappoint. The junior managed to grab All-American honors by finishing second on the 1-meter board, with a score of 521.75. He finished in fifth on the 3-meter board with a score of 511.00.
There were 24 divers, in total, competing against one another. And after a shaky start, Carlson was happy with where he ended up in the field.
“It was amazing. Hands down the greatest moment I have ever had competing in sports” Carlson stated about nationals.
But compared to previous visits to the championships, things were a little different this year.
“I don’t want to say it was an upperclassmen lowerclassmen thing, but it kind of was, you know? There was a different feeling the past two years going to the championship,” said Carlson. “To sum it up, I’d say I felt more relaxed in that atmosphere than ever before. I felt more in control of my body than ever.”
Bartlett made her second consecutive trip to the ship.
“I just went into practices giving it all of my effort in the weeks before. I was very nervous because I had a rough year,” Bartlett said.
And apparently, it worked.
Bartlett earned All-American honors, on both boards, for the second straight year, finishing as the national runner-up on the 1-meter springboard, with a score of 444.75. She posted a score of 454.45 on the 3-meter board — good enough for a third place finish.
Santiago made his long anticipated first trip to the National Championship. He had been close pretty much every year of his diving career here at Fredonia.
The senior has been an alternate for the Championship in each of his first three years. That didn’t stop the senior from ending it all with a bang by finally qualifying.
“I didn’t do as well as I wanted, to be honest,” replied Santiago when asked about his experience in Greensboro. “Arron and I both struggled with our voluntary dives.”
Despite an early struggle, both male divers were able to bring themselves back.
Santiago was also able to snag Honorable Mention All-American after a 15th place consolation finish, and an 11th place finish in preliminary competition.
“I was a little bit angry during the consolation dives,” said Santiago. “I didn’t really feel like that’s where I belonged. I wanted to be competing for first place. I think that’s what really motivated me to place where I did.”
But the senior couldn’t take all the credit for his success and felt some thanks were in order.
“I just want to say thank you to my coaches John Crawford and Ryan Fuller,” said Santiago. “Both of them helped me get to this point. Thank you.”
Along with the individual performances, Fredonia managed to place 23rd in a 50-team field in the team competition.
After a long season of hard work, commitment and success, another diving season is in the books.