INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Mount Holyoke College sophomore Samantha Nemivant concluded her first appearance at the NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships, placing 20th overall in the 3-meter diving event. It followed her performance on Thursday where she placed 18th overall among the top 28 divers in Division III.
The Scottsdale, Ariz., native placed 20th overall with a total score of 415.85 points. Her effort followed Thursday's competition on the 1-meter, which saw her finish 18th overall with a total score of 378.85 points. Her effort was just two spots shy of qualifying for the consolation finals in the event which earns the ninth through 16th place finishers Honorable Mention All-America.
Overall, Nemivant was one of seven divers from the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference to compete in the diving competition. Defending National Champion, Maura Sticco-Ivins placed first overall in the preliminaries, while MIT's Blake Zhou was third in the prelims as both will content for this year's title and All-America status this evening. MIT's Deborah Wen (9th) and Dolly Payne (11th), along with Springfield's Sierra Skaza (10th) will compete in the consolation finals for Honorable Mention All-America. Both Nemivant (20th) and Smith's Elyse Stone (24th) finished just outside the awards.
It was an outstanding season for Nemivant, who earned her spot at Nationals following a sixth-place finish in the 3-meter event at the NCAA Division III Northeast/North Regional Championships at Middlebury College in the beginning of March. She was also seventh on the 1-meter at regionals.
During the 2017-18 season, the former Notre Dame Prep standout recorded nine first-place finishes combined off both boards. Additionally, she finished no less than third during the regular season off either board over nine meets. At the NEWMAC Championship, Nemivant was ninth off the 3-meter (441.35), taking seventh in the 1-meter (432.00) the following day. For the season, she recorded seven NCAA Qualifying marks, including four off the 1-meter.
Highlighting Nemivant's season thus far was a sweep of the boards against Westfield State, in which she recorded an NCAA qualifying mark of 257.50 to win the 1-meter, followed by a first-place score of 250.35 on the 3-meter. Nemivant also broke her own school record in the 3-meter event this season, posting 476.20 points to finish third at the 2018 Seven Sisters Championships.
