Colton Bridge
Colton Bridge

Bridge Competes in NCAA Pre-Championship Qualifying Meet

GENEVA, Ohio – Bentley University sophomore All-America diver Nicola Mancini (Falmouth, Maine/ Falmouth HS) earned the right to compete in this week's NCAA Division II Women's Swimming and Diving Championships with an impressive performance Tuesday during a pre-qualification meet at the Spire.

The three-meter will be contested Wednesday and the one-meter will follow on Friday. Prelims for both are scheduled for 2 pm and the finals both evenings begin at 6 pm.

Mancini was sixth of 40 in the three-meter, posting a score of 262.75, and came back to place seventh of 42 off the one-meter board, registering a 247.05. She was one of only four divers in the field to place in the top seven off both boards.

Her highest score in both competitions came in her fifth dive. She scored a 49.95 with an inward two-and-a-half somersault tuck off the three-meter and posted a 54.00 from the three-meter with an inward one-and-a-half somersault pike.

Bentley was also represented in the pre-qual meet by sophomores Courtney Stone (Andover, Mass./Andover HS) and Colton Bridge (Tolland, Conn./Tolland HS), although neither advanced to the NCAA Championships.

Stone was 34th off the one-meter, finishing with a 206.90. Her best dive was a back one-somersault one-and-a-half twist free in which she notched 37.95 points.

On the men's side, Bridge finished 23rd in the three-meter and 24th in the one-meter, with scores of 204.05 and 194.60 respectively. His high point totals were 48.60 on an inward two-and-a-half somersault tuck from the three-meter and 46.20 on an inward two-somersault tuck from the one-meter.

At last year's NCAA Championships, Mancini placed eighth in the one-meter and 13th in the three-meter.