GRANVILLE, Ohio – Sophomore Kapani Kirkland (Mendota Heights, Minn./Convent of the Visitation) had a good opening day at the 2020 NCAA Division III Region 1 Diving Championships, finishing ninth on the 1-meter board with a score of 380.95.
 
A total of 22 divers participated on day one, and Kirkland opened strongly as she tied for the top score in the opening round of the 11-dive lineup. She slipped to 15th after her third dive and was still 13th after her sixth attempt.
 
Kirkland moved up the leaderboard on each of her next three dives—as she registered her top three scores of the session—and sat seventh heading into the final round.
 
Attempting one the highest degrees of difficulty on her dive sheet, Kirkland was unable to maintain her hold on that spot in the standings, as Naomi Clayton of host Denison University and Emily Quill of Saint Benedict registered two of their top dives on the day to push the Carleton sophomore into ninth place.
 
The University of Chicago claimed the top four spots on Friday as Elizabeth Cron (458.25), Agnes Lo (446.85), Alice Saparov (424.35) and Evanna Peng (419.50) accomplished the feat for the first time in school history.
 
A year ago at this same meet, Kirkland scored 330.00 on the 1-meter board, so she still carries good momentum into Saturday's 3-meter competition.
 
UP NEXT FOR THE KNIGHTS: The 3-meter competition begins with the men at 12 p.m. ET followed by the women at 3:15 p.m.