Tigers Move to CAA Finals

By: Chris Wells, Staff Writer 

Towson University concluded its first postseason event at the two-day Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Diving Championship. 

“We’ve qualified a group of girls for the NCAA Regional championship in Annapolis in two weeks,” Acting Head Coach Jake Shrum said. “Tim [Perkins] did a great job getting our divers ready to compete.”

The Tigers were lead by freshman Emily Wilson who qualified for the three-meter event finals with a preliminary score of 242.25. She finished sixth-place overall in the finals with a score of 238.15.

Senior Nataliee Szopo qualified for the three-meter event finals as well with a preliminary score of 239.95. She followed behind Wilson in the finals in seventh-place (230.75).

Only the top eight place finishers from preliminaries advance to the event finals.

“They had a really solid meet,” Shrum said.  “Ninth and tenth places in prelims are always tough to swallow since you can’t move up past ninth in consolation finals, and our girls did that on both boards. They’re an inevitable part of championship meets, you just hope to keep them at a minimum.”

Senior Molly Arceri finished strong winning the consolation finals with a score of 250.25.

Fellow senior Hannah Ostrem placed fourth in the consolation finals (237.95), which was good for 12th-overall.

Freshman Victoria Zozzaro placed fifth in the consolation finals (13th-overall) with a score of 228.75.

Towson’s only male diver, freshman Jake Casey, had a strong showing in his first CAA Championship action. He finished third in the one-meter event consolation finals (11th-overall) with a score of 124.70.

“Molly Arceri did a great job holding her ninth place on the three-meter and then came back and made the A Final for the first time of her career on,” Shrum said. “Our highest performance was Emily Wilson’s sixth place finish on the three-meter, a tremendous accomplishment for a freshman. Jake Casey had a really solid outing for his first CAA Championships as well.”

On day two of the event, Casey once again earned third-place in the three-meter consolation finals (11th-overall) with a score of 160.80.

In the women’s one-meter event Saturday, only Arceri qualified for the finals with a preliminary score of 235.60. She finished eighth overall (224.25).

Third through sixth-place (11th-14th overall) in the consolation finals belonged to Towson as Ostrem led the way with a score of 236.00, followed by Zozzaro (220.50), Szopo (213.70) and Wilson rounding out the event for the lady Tigers (210.30).

Next up for Towson is a four-day trip to the Collegiate School Aquatics Center in Richmond, Virginia for the CAA Swimming Championship starting Wednesday, Feb. 24 and concluding Saturday, Feb. 28.

“I couldn’t be more excited for the swimming to start on Wednesday,” Shrum said. “The team has looked better every day and we’re itching to compete.”

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