On the first day of the NAIA National Championships, freshman diver Courtney Simpson became the first All-American in the history of The Master's University's aquatic program.
Despite this momentous accomplishment, Simpson felt that her performance in the 1-meter dive event wasn't her best.
"She feels she could do a lot better," TMU head coach
Byron Davis said after the first day of competition. "And she can."
Simpson carried that mentality with her heading into the second day of competition inside the Allan Jones Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she would go on to earn fourth place in the 3-meter dive event to secure her second All-American honor.
"All the other divers are so nice and the environment is just a relaxed and fun environment but still an environment where we are all striving to dive well," she said going into the second day. "I was nervous for prelims but I went in with the mindset that I was just going to trust the Lord and dive to the best of my ability."
The TMU freshman opened the day with a sixth place performance during prelims, scoring a 166.45 during the 3-meter dive. She went on to improve by nearly 30 points during the finals, scoring a 192.80 to take home fourth place.
NAIA rules dictate that the top eight athletes in each championship final be named All-Americans, making Simpson's dive on Friday her second All-American dive of the week.
Two other Mustangs entered the waters on Friday for individual events, with junior
Lezly Plahn hitting a 1 minute, 01.06 seconds in preliminary rounds of the 100-meter backstroke, and freshman
Xavier Gutierrez swimming the 100-meter butterfly event in 52:34 during prelims. Both were season bests.
While neither of the two Mustangs made it to finals, both walked away with something to be proud of. Gutierrez made history as soon as he hit the water as the first male Mustang to compete in an individual event nationally, while Plahn was already coming off of a consolation final win for the 50-meter freestyle the day before.
The two Mustangs also joined their teammates in relay competition Friday. Plahn joined
Madison Eaton,
Yasmine Corel and
Simone Williams to hit 1:57.57 in the women's 200-meter medley relay, while Gutierrez teamed up with
Brandon Watson,
Raymie Matiashowski and Mazen Hussein to swim 1:46:48 in a 200-meter medley relay of their own.
Both relays hit season-best times.
While neither team managed to make it to finals, Davis was pleased with where his squads stood heading into Saturday, with the remaining schedule as follows:
(All times PST)
Women
400 Free Relay ... Prelims 7 a.m./ Finals at 3 p.m.
100 Free (Lezly Plahn) ... Prelims 7 a.m./ Finals at 3 p.m.
Men
100 Freestyle (Xavier Gutierrez) ... Prelims 7 a.m./ Finals at 3 p.m.
400 Free Relay ... Prelims 7 a.m./ Finals at 3 p.m.
