FIU invited to NCAA zone B diving championships

Alexander Toledo/ Contributing Writer

While most students were spending spring break poolside for leisure, the swimming and diving team was poolside with one goal in mind: bringing home gold medals.

Sophomore Rebecca Quesnel and junior Lily Kauffman, two of the most nationally represented Panthers, continued their recent string of successes at the NCAA Zone B Diving competition held at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta.

Quesnel also placed 33rd with a score of 233.30 in six dives in the Preliminaries/Quarterfinals of the C-USA Women’s 1 Meter Championships. After placing 13th in the Women’s Platform Preliminaries, she earned a spot in the Platform Finals.

She solidified her position in the NCAA Championships after earning fifth place in the finals with a score of 523.50 in five dives. This feat earned her position as the first diver in FIU’s history to reach the NCAA Championships.

Following her dominant performance, Quesnel was named C-USA Diver of the Meet. She entered the NCAA Championship hopeful after setting two personal best times, five C-USA Diver of the Week awards and setting the University’s record score of 299.80 in addition to her aforementioned accomplishments at the C-USA Championships.

As for Kauffman, she placed 38th in the Women’s 3 Meter Championship Preliminaries with a score of 234.75 in six dives. She followed this up with 23rd place in the Women’s Platform Preliminaries with a score of 208.05 in five dives, the same competition where Quesnel placed 13th.

Quesnel joined Naomi Ruele at the NCAA Championship. Ruele enters the NCAA Championship following her strong performance at the C-USA Swimming Championship. She placed first in each event she participated in, earning seven gold medals from the conference championship.

Ruele was also named the C-USA Swimmer of the Meet during the Championships, following two record-setting performances in the 100 Meter Freestyle Relay and the 200 Meter Freestyle Relay.

The redshirt freshman was invited to the NCAA Championships after setting the C-USA Championships record with 22.23 second time during her performance in the 50 freestyle event. Her time is also tied for the 27th fastest in the nation.

Prior to the NCAA events, Head Coach Randy Horner had high expectations for Quesnel.

“Becca fought back after missing a few dives in the prelims. She is a legit threat to contend at the NCAA’s next week if she can put all her dives together in one list,” said Horner to FIU Sports.

During the NCAA Championships, which took place March 16-19, both Quesnel and Ruele were eliminated from the competition during preliminaries.

Quesnel placed last in both the 1 Meter and 3 Meter Diving competitions, keeping her from moving on to the Finals. At press time, the Platform Diving event hadn’t taken place, but Quesnel is expected to finish last.

Ruele tied for 41st place in the 50 yard freestyle, the only event the Botswana native was invited to compete in.

Additional reporting by Cayla Bush