February 12, 2006

PSU Diver finishes runner-up on three-meter at New England Championships

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass.

- It was another outstanding day for Plymouth State University's top diver Sunday at the New England Division II-III Intercollegiate Diving Championships, hosted by UMass Dartmouth.

Junior Danielle DeStefano (Centerville, Mass.), who finished third Saturday in the one-meter diving, came back Sunday with a second-place finish on the three-meter board. She scored 365.05 points in the preliminaries, finishing second and qualifying for the finals. She totaled 366.65 points in the finals and held on to second place, behind UMD's Kelly Kidd, who also won the one-meter. DeStefano's scores were just shy of PSU's school record for 11 dives on the three-meter board (373.15).

A former gymnast now in only her second year diving, DeStefano enjoyed a strong dual meet season, recording 16 victories in 20 events.

The New England Diving Championships are normally held the third weekend in February at Bentley College in conjunction with the New England Swimming Championships. This year, Bentley's athletic facilities are under renovation, so the diving championships were moved to this weekend at UMD, and the swimming championships are next weekend (Feb. 17-19) at Western New England College in Springfield, Mass.

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