ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University swimming and diving team concluded the first half of its season last Friday with a home dual meet against the College of Saint Benedict. Although St. Kate's lost the dual meet 157-86 the team still has plenty to celebrate, with multiple strong performances from its swimmers and divers. One of those individuals was none other than senior diver Jenna Nagy (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson), who has been named Wildcat Athlete of the Week for her outstanding performances against the Blazers.
Nagy was one of three Wildcats to win two individual events in the dual against Saint Ben’s after dominating in both the 1 meter and 3-meter diving events. Nagy won both events by substantial margins. Her final score of 264.80 in six dives on the 1-meter board was 48 points higher than the second place finisher and her score of 289.05, five points off the school record, was over 120 points higher than the second place finisher.
However, Nagy did not just win both events in dominating fashion. Her scores on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards met NCAA Diving Zone qualifying standards. Since Nagy already recorded an NCAA qualifying score in the dual meet against UM-Morris in November, her score against Saint Ben's automatically qualifies her for the Regional Diving Zones, which will take place in February.
With her qualification on Friday night, Nagy becomes the first diver in St. Kate’s history to qualify for NCAA Region Diving Zones all four years of her collegiate career. She also is the first diver from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) to qualify for Zones and holds the top scores in the conference this season.
