KNOXVILLE, TN — University of Arizona diving star Delaney Schnell finished her accomplished collegiate career with her first NCAA Championship, winning the title in the Platform Diving event.
“Knowing it was my last event collegiality, I really just wanted to enjoy the last competition that I have for Arizona,” Schnell said.
The Tucson native's final score was 352.65, and the result comes after Schnell finished second in the 1-meter and fourth in the 3-meter events over the course of the last two days.
“This one is a big one for me... I’ve been trying to get this title for five seasons now.”
Schnell's NCAA Championship was the program's first individual title since Kevin Cordes in 2015 (100 breaststroke), first women's title and first diving title since Samantha Pickens in 2015 (1-meter), and the first platform title since Ben Grado in 2012.
Schnell came into this week's competition as an Olympic silver medalist, the 2023 Pac-12 Women's Swimming & Diving Scholar Athlete of the Year, a FINA World Championships silver medalist, a six-time Pac-12 Champion, and a nine-time All-American.
“I mean, you’d think that winning a silver medal is more emotional, and I guess, like a bigger thing, but for me, this has so much history behind it because I mean it was a lot of close calls and trials and tribulations.”
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Jason Barr is a sports anchor and reporter for KGUN 9. Jason's stories have won KGUN four prestigious regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for sports reporting. He has also won two Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards for sports reporting. Share your story ideas with Jason by emailing jason.barr@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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Breanna Isbell is a reporter for KGUN 9. She joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2022 after receiving her bachelor’s degree in sports journalism from Arizona State University in May. Share your story ideas with Breanna by emailing breanna.isbell@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, or Twitter.
