Santiago 2nd at Regional, will join Carlson at NCAAs
Rafael Santiago (Middletown, N.Y./Middletown) turned in a second-place finish while teammate Arron Carlson (LeRoy/Notre Dame) was third off the 1-meter board at the Regional Diving Meet at Cortland on Friday. The top three finishers off each board are guaranteed a spot at the Division III Championships. Carlson had qualified the day before off the 3-meter board, and Santiago's finish means he'll be joining Carlson an the national meet.
Santiago had a cumulative score of 500.65 in the 11-dive format. Carlson totaled 493.85. The top finisher was Sam Randall of Geneseo, who had a tally of 523.10.
The NCAA Division III Championships will be held March 16-19 in Greensboro, N.C.
Carlson, a junior who has previously achieved Honorable-Mention All-American status, will be making his third trip to the NCAA Meet.
"Arron was consistent and strong the whole meet," said diving coach Ryan Fuller, "and Raffy was consistent all day." There will be 24 divers competing on both the men's and women's side.
OFFICIAL NATIONAL QUALIFIERS:
1) Arron Carlson (Fredonia) (1st place, 3 meter)
2) Samuel Randall (Geneseo) (1st place, 1 meter)
3) Johnathan Morris (Rowan) (2nd place, 3 meter)
4) Rafael Santiago (Fredonia) (2nd place, 1 meter)
5) Gabe Arias (Brockport) (5th place, 3 meter) (since Randall was 3rd and Santiago was 4th)
6) Gabriel Bamforth (Carnegie Mellon) (6th place, 1 meter) (since Carlson was 3rd, Morris was 4th and Arias was 5th)
Alternates:
Scott Hillen (Ithaca) (7th place, 3 meter)
Lee Wade (Cortland) (7th place, 1 meter)
