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| Alaina Kosko is Tufts' first NCAA diving qualifier in nine years. |
SPRINGFIELD – Tufts University freshman diver Alaina Kosko qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships with her performance in three-meter diving at the 2020 NCAA Division III Region 3 (Northeast) Championships hosted by Springfield College on Saturday.
Kosko placed fifth out of 19 individuals in the Regional three-meter competition this afternoon with a 451.40 score. She receives an at-large berth into the NCAA meet which will be held March 18-21 in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she dive off both the three- and one-meter boards. Kosko joins 12 Jumbo swimmers who have also qualified to go to the national championships.
Also in the three-meter event today, junior Amber Chong was 15th (384.35) and freshman Sydney Ho compiled a 364.55 score for 17th place.
Kosko drew a 52.65 score with her ninth dive today, an inward 2 ½ somersault tuck. She received a 7.5 score from one judge. She also had a pair of 46.80 scores, with her forward 2 ½ somersault pike sixth dive and with her back 1 ½ somersault 1 ½ twist free for her 10th dive. Her total score was nearly 11 points better than the 440.55 that earned her a runner-up finish at NESCAC's two weeks ago.
Chong's best score today (47.15) came with a reverse 1 ½ somersault pike in her ninth dive, while Ho's final dive of the weekend was an inward 2 ½ somersault tuck that earned her a day's-best 43.20 score. Ho's total score surpassed her 342.15 at NESCAC's.
Kosko will be the first diver from the Jumbo women's team to compete at the NCAA meet since Lindsay Gardel in 2010.
