In hopes of advancing to the NCAA Division III National Championships, five divers from the men’s and women’s squads competed in the NCAA DIII Regional Diving Championships from Feb. 27 to 28 at Springfield College. Senior Austen Blease from the men’s team and freshman Austin Campitelli from the women’s team were the only NYU divers to advance.

Day one of the men’s tournament featured the 11-dive 3-meter competition, where Blease finished in fourth place out of 30 divers. He scored 571.90 points, only 13.30 shy of the leader freshman Matthew Rohrer from Tufts University. Blease qualified for the national championships with his strong showing.

“I think I was able to have success because I feel really comfortable with where I am in my diving ability,” Blease said. “This meet was more difficult than other meets because every diver had to qualify for it. So there was a standard which all the competitors had met so the competition was stiff.”

Though Blease had already qualified, he had an even stronger performance on the second day. Blease came in first place in the 11-dive 1-meter competition with a score of 533.30. It was a narrow victory, as Springfield’s Jack Lewis finished in second place with 532.45 points.

Senior Brian Blum also competed in the men’s tournament, finishing in 16th and 18th in the 3-meter and 1-meter dives, respectively. However, he did not advance to the national championships, as only the top seven male divers could qualify.

Only 28 divers competed in the women’s tournament, including Campitelli, sophomore Ashlie Pankonin and senior Kate Donnelly. Campitelli was one of only six to advance.

But unlike Blease, Campitelli needed both days of the tournament to qualify. On day one, she competed in the 11-dive 1-meter competition, finishing in ninth place with 468.10 points. Maura Sticco-Ivins of Wellesley College had an impressive first place score, beating Campitelli by 78.55 points. Campitelli knew she would have an uphill climb.

“It was a really hard meet,” Campitelli said. “There were so many good divers, both girls and guys. It was really nerve wracking.”

Campitelli overcame her nerves on day two, scoring 464.05 points for a second place finish, solidifying her spot in the nationals.

Pankonin posted a middling performance, coming in 14th place with 395.70 points in the 3-meter dive and 17th place with 425.40 points in the 1-meter dive. In the same competitions, Donnelly finished in 20th and 23rd place, respectively.

With one tournament left, Campitelli and Blease are the only NYU divers remaining. They both plan on training rigorously in preparation for the nationals.

“It’ll be interesting since only two of us will be training,” Campitelli said. “I think we will just be working really hard on perfecting our dives for nationals and getting in the right frame of mind. I’m both nervous and excited. It’s really cool to have made it and be representing NYU, but it’s going to be the best of the best there, so I’m scared.”

Blease shared Campitelli’s sentiment about perfecting their dives, but stressed that he would have to avoid the temptation to overwork himself in the next few weeks
in preparation.

“I know what I need to do and that is to not over-work myself, do what I feel comfortable doing in terms of practice, and remain motivated so as to end the season and my career with no regrets,” Blease said.

Nationals will take place from March 18 to 21 at the Conroe Independent School District Natatorium in Shenandoah, Texas.

A version of this article appeared in the Monday, March 2 print edition. Email Jonathan Schifman at [email protected].