Diving in her home pool at the Venema Aquatic Center, Calvin senior Samantha Klaasen had a great weekend of performances at the Calvin-hosted regional NCAA diving championships —- good enough to earn an automatic qualifying spot in the NCAA D-III championships in Shenandoah, Texas.

Last Friday, Klaasen set a pool record with a score of 496.60 on the one-meter board. This score garnered her first place and an automatic qualifying spot in the national championship competition.

Then on Saturday, Klaasen had another brilliant performance, coming in second place on the three-meter board by only three points with a score of 482.60. Renee Jordan of Macalester College took first place in this event. Klaasen’s performances were so good that she will be competing both on the one-meter and the three-meter down in Texas.

“Sam [Klaasen] was steady as a rock all weekend. She rose to the challenge and she’s got another three weeks to her collegiate diving career as a result,” said Calvin diving coach Aaron Paskvan.

Calvin freshman Sarah Roth also competed in the regional event. Despite battling a foot injury and showing up to the competition wearing a boot, Roth took 14th place with a score of 388.35.

“I’m really proud of both of our divers,” said Paskvan. “Sarah was battling an injury but she refused to use that as an excuse and she competed hard.”