Two Ashland University divers, junior Joey Lenczyk and sophomore Riley Hunt, qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana held in March. 

This is the second consecutive year Hunt and Lenczyk found themselves competing at the national level.  Both Eagles went into this meet after being named Men’s and Women’s Diver of the Meet, respectively and winning their respective 1-meter and 3-meter diving events at their conference meet. 

On Day one, Lenczyk finished tying for 29th place in the men’s 3-meter dive with 205.40 points and placed 34th in the men’s 1-meter dive with 172.90 points. 

Hunt found herself placing 13th in the women’s 1-meter dive with 217.05 points and 31st in the women’s 3-meter dive with 197.10 points.  This allowed Hunt to compete in the women’s 3-meter dive on Wednesday.   

Hunt became the first Eagle to compete at the national meet at the preliminary level since former Eagles Franci Aleksi and Amar Sapcanin did in 2020 prior to nationals being canceled at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Hunt said it felt good but shocking when she realized how long it had been since an Eagle competed at the preliminary level.  “It was cool to put Ashland on the board at nationals,” Hunt said. 

To conclude her finals appearance, Hunt tied for 14th place in the women’s 3-meter dive on Friday with 421.25 points.  This led to her becoming the first woman to score points at a swimming/diving nationals since former Eagle Hannah Mattar did in 2016. 

In the future Hunt hopes to make it to finals at the national level, but also to have more fun with competing and become more confident. 

The Ashland University swim and dive teams 2024-25 season has concluded and now they’ll be looking forward to their 2025-26 season.  Supporters can receive updates on that by visiting goashlandeagles.com.