Tigers Cap Season At Kenyon; Black Qualifies For Diving Regional

GAMBIER, Ohio - The 2014-15 season came to a close for the Wittenberg Tigers with a solid showing at the Kenyon Fast Chance Invitational - except for one freshman who extended her impressive inaugural collegiate campaign with a school-record performance.

Kaitlyn Black (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) posted a tremendous score of 437.15 to break both the 6-dive and 11-dive school records in the 1-meter diving competition. Her performance earned a spot in the NCAA Division III Central Region Diving Championships Feb. 27-28 at the University of Chicago.

At the regional, Black will attempt to the opportunity to qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships at Conroe ISD Natatorium in Shenandoah, Texas, March 18-21. She will compete in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events at the regional.

Several other Tigers excelled in the Kenyon Fast Chance as well, including sophomore Amy Schulz (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo), who placed first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 57.93 and the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:05.66. Those times are both just shy of the provisional qualifying standards for the NCAA Division III meet.

Also just missing the cut was freshman Julia Valentine (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington), who placed fourth in the 100-yard butterfly in a time of 59.68 and second in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:05.86, and junior Dani Lacy (Louisville, Ky./Louisville Collegiate School), who took fourth in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.87.

Three members of the Tiger men's team have provisional qualifying times, but none were able to improve their marks at the Kenyon Fast Chance Invitational. Senior James Dumstorf (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier), senior AJ Burt (Wyoming, Ohio/Wyoming) and junior Stephen Stuthers (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) all are unlikely to earn a berth in the national meet, with Dumstorf the closest, ranking 24th currently in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Written By: Ryan Maurer