ITHACA, N.Y. – Cortland sophomore Taylor Williams (Slate Hill/Minisink Valley) finished in first place out of 27 competitors on the women's 1-meter board, and freshman Ashley Zachgo (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) finished in 10th place, during the opening day of action at the NCAA Division III Region 4 (Northeast/South) Women's Diving Regional.

With her victory, Williams is guaranteed one of the 10 regional qualifying spots for the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships, which will be held March 18-21 in Greensboro, N.C.

The top five finishers on the 1-meter board automatically qualify for nationals, with the other five qualifiers determined during Saturday's 3-meter competition. Qualifiers are chosen in alternating fashion, starting with the top finisher on Day 1, then the top finisher on Day 2, then the second finisher from Day 1, and so on. Those who have already been chosen are skipped for the next finisher on that board. The NCAA will officially announce the national qualifiers on Monday, as the final qualifying spot may come down to adding scores from both boards.

Williams, who finished ninth on the 1-meter board as a freshman last season, won the event this year with a final 11-dive score of 447.00 points. She edged out Geneseo's Samantha Reichman's – last week's SUNYAC 1-meter and 3-meter champion – who finished with 442.80 points. Williams scored more than 44 points on five of her 11 dives, including a 54-point score on her sixth dive and scores of at least 44 points on her final four attempts. Reichman needed a 59.40 on her final dive to catch Williams but came up just short with a 55.20.

Williams is the second Cortland diver since the NCAA regional format was adopted in 2013 to win a regional title. Miranda Fergus was the 3-meter regional champion in 2016.

Zachgo posted a final score of 395.55 points, less than a tenth of a point ahead of 11th-place Karalyn Pawcio of Ithaca and less than six points behind ninth-place Taylor Woltz of Nazareth.

Rounding out the top five behind Williams and Reichman were Nazareth's Allie Norwood (434.30) and Geneseo's Alyssa Vadala (427.65) and Kiersten Coates (419.75).

Saturday's competition begins with the men's 1-meter event at noon, with the women's 3-meter event to follow.

Day 1 Results

NCAA Regional Championship Portal