Case Western Reserve University senior diver Abigail Wilkov secured her entry to the National Championship Meet with a first-place finish in the one-meter dive at the 2025 NCAA Division III Region 1 One-Meter Dive Championship on Friday afternoon.

Wilkov became the first Spartan ever to win an event at the NCAA Regional Diving Championship. By virtue of her first-place finish, she claimed a spot in the diving events at the 2025 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina in March. This is the fourth consecutive year she has qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship.

Wilkov opened the day with a 42.00 on her first dive and stayed atop or close to the front of the standings throughout the day. She built her lead in the event with three straight strong dives, scoring 45.60 with her sixth dive, 54.60 with her seventh (her highest score of the day), and 48.40 with her eighth, taking a 17-point lead over her next closest competitor with three dives remaining. However, by the end of the tenth round of dives, Wilkov's score of 401.9 was just six-tenths of a point ahead of Carleton's Nina Schwab and seventh-tenths in front of Chicago's Lilia Atanda, setting up a dramatic final round.

Wilkov, who was the first of the three to dive, set the tone for the final round with a score of 51.25, putting the pressure on the rest of the field of 33 divers. Shortly thereafter, Atanda scored a 36.25 on her final dive and Schwab registered a score of 45.00 on her 11th dive, essentially clinching the regional championship for Wilkov.

Also in action on Friday for the CWRU women was senior Jocelyn Schechter, who placed 12th in the one-meter dive with a score of 388.20. In the men's three-meter dive, senior Alex Waltman placed 12th out of 17 competitors with a score of 396.00, while senior Nico Billoni was 13th with a score of 380.05.

The NCAA Regional Diving Championship will conclude tomorrow with the men's one-meter dive and the women's three-meter dive starting at noon.

Spartan Notes

• Wilkov had previously finished fourth in the one-meter dive at each of the last three NCAA Regional Championships.

• On Saturday, Wilkov will be aiming to improve on her career-best second-place finish in the three-meter dive at the Regional Championship, recorded in 2023. She placed fourth in the three-meter dive last year and third as a first-year in 2022.

• The official field of divers selected to the NCAA Championship will be announced on Monday by 8:00 p.m. A total of eight women and six men from Region 1 will be selected.