Emory University divers Ariana Khan and Solly Berkenwald excelled Friday afternoon as the duo swept both events on day one of the NCAA Division III Region 2 Diving Championships held at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa.
Berkenwald continued to shined in his rookie season as he captured the men's 3-meter event crown in the field of 19 divers. The win comes on the heels of his sweep on both boards at the UAA Championships earlier this month which helped him secure the conference's Diver of the Year honor.
On Friday, Berkenwald was one of three divers to eclipse the 500-points mark on the 3-meter board and was the event champion with a winning score of 551.85. Berkenwald outlasted Colorado College's Rowan Fitzsimmons (523.40) and Rhode Island College's John Beuerlein (513.40) to lock up one of the region's seven men's NCAA allocations.
For the women, Khan shined as she beat out the competitive field of 23 divers to help her build her NCAA resume. The 1-meter event proved to be a tight battle with four divers scoring over 400 points with Khan leading the way with 428.35. WashU's Shanze Karimi came in second at 420.45 with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps' Isabella Doud (418.40) and Mei Lan Uyeno (416.10) finishing in third and fourth.
The Eagles had four representatives finish inside the top-9 on Friday with junior Ren Watt taking the sixth spot with a score of 394.60 followed by freshmen Maya Kriz (392.80) and Maddi Grant (369.25) in the seventh and ninth positions.
Watt, Kriz and Grant will look to shore up one of the remaining five NCAA allocations on the women's side when the diving regionals continue on Saturday with the women's 3-meter while Berkenwald will go for the sweep in the 1-meter event.
