Santoro Finishes as National Runner-Up on 1-Meter
ATLANTA – Freshman Matteo Santoro opened up his first-ever trip to the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships in impressive fashion Thursday evening, capturing All-America honors on the 1-meter springboard.
Santoro was the national runner-up in the event on the Georgia Tech campus, placing second in the nation with a score of 412.50.
He finished just behind Luke Sitz of SMU, who took first (428.10).
The Italy native, who has compiled an impressive start to his collegiate career, posted his top-scoring dive on his sixth and final dive of the night, an inward 2 1/2 somersault tuck that scored him 74.40.
Before returning to Atlanta for the NCAA postseason, Santoro had already compiled medals on both springboards in the same pool at the ACC Championships earlier this spring. Santoro took a silver medal in the 1-meter and bronze in the 3-meter in his previous trip to the McAuley Aquatic Center.
Santoro made the cut with a score of 344.70 in the preliminary round, securing the eighth and final spot for a return trip for finals.
In addition to Santoro’s strong showing, redshirt freshman Jake Passmore earned Honorable Mention All-America honors by taking 12th in the prelims.
Passmore, making his first trip to the NCAA Championships, posted a score of 344.70 with his top dive coming on a reverse 2 ½ somersault tuck that scored him 67.50 points.
The NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships continue Friday from Atlanta.
