National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics: Day One Opens With Diving

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, February 29. THE 2012 Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving National Championships began with a pair of Concordia (Calif.) divers taking home the first national titles awarded. Christine Runkle won the women's one-meter championship and Christopher Salgado captured the men's three-meter championship on the first day of the event.

Runkle won her third consecutive one-meter title with a final score of 274.50. She barely edged out Fresno Pacific's (Calif.) Amanda Carter who had a score of 270.40. Runkle became just the second diver in the history of the NAIA to win the women's one-meter diving championship three years in a row. Belinda Eddy of Simon Fraser (B.C.), who won the event four years in a row from 1990-1993, last accomplished the feat.

Salgado ran away with the men's three-meter title, posting a final score of 332.75. The runner-up in the event was Illinois Tech's Ian Mcnair with a score of 281.00. Salgado had the second best preliminary round, behind Mcnair, but scored 39.15 points higher than his preliminary score in the final round of competition.

Oklahoma Baptist had three divers make the final portion of the women's one-meter championship in the university's first year to compete in swimming and diving. The Bison came into the event with the top three individual scores of the year. Victoria Svetgoff came in fourth with a score of 229.20, the best finish for the Bison.

Thursday marks the first full day of competition at the Oklahoma City Community College Aquatic Center. The swimming preliminaries begin at 10 a.m. CST with the finals to follow at 6 p.m. CST. Diving continues tomorrow with the men's one-meter championship taking place following the swimming preliminaries.

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