Meili Carpenter Earns All-America Status
4/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
BUFFALO, NY – University at Buffalo diver Meili Carpenter became the first swimmer/diver in the school's Division-I history to earn All-America status, after an outstanding performance at the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving meet where she placed in the top 16 in the country in both the one and three-meter events.
Carpenter was named All-America honorable mention after placing
11th in the three-meter dive and 12th in the one-meter event at the
2010 NCAA meet, held at Purdue's Boilermaker Aquatic Center
on March 8-10. The top eight finishers in each event are named
All-America, while ninth through 16th place finishers earn
All-America honorable mention. Carpenter is the first swimmer/diver
to accomplish this feat in UB's Division-I era, and only the
second female at UB to do so, the first being Shelly Hamilton in
1998.
"It was nice to see all the hard work from the season pay
off," said Carpenter. The accomplishment comes after an
outstanding senior season where she swept the boards at the
Mid-American Conference Championship meet earning the top spots in
both the one and three-meter events, on her way to being named the
2010 Women's MAC Diver of the Year. She also broke her own
school record four times in the three-meter event throughout the
season, finishing with a lifetime best and school record score of
350.65 at the MAC Championship meet.
Carpenter was not the only one to relish the accomplishment, as head diving coach Karla Helder was also proud of her efforts. "I am very proud to have been standing by her side. It was satisfying to see her achieve the accomplishment that I always knew she could achieve," said Helder.
Carpenter is only the fourth student-athlete to earn All-America status in UB's Division-I era, joining Hamilton, Turner Battle (men's basketball) and Kyle Cerminara (wrestling).
