IUPUI diver Chen Ni has been chosen as the IUPUI Student-Athlete of the Month for March. Ni, the first IUPUI swimmer or diver to qualify for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, finished fourth on the platform at the championships.
With the fourth-place finish, Ni became the first IUPUI swimmer or diver to receive All-America honors.
Ni led all 24 divers on the platform after Saturday morning's preliminary round. In five dives, Ni posted a score of 304.30, averaging 68.06 points per dive. The mark set the pool record on the platform.
In the prelims, Ni took control on her second dive, a Back 2 1/2 Somersault Pike with a degree of difficulty of 2.9. The Carmel, Ind.-native nailed the dive, as her scores ranged from 9.5 to 8.0. Her total of 78.30 vaulted her into the lead, making her the last diver in the evening's finals.
Given the advantage of diving last among the eight finalists, Ni again scored big on her Back 2 1/2 Somersault Pike, picking up a score of 78.30. However, on her next dive, Ni, faltered, picking up a 40.50 on a Reverse 2 1/2 Somersault Tuck. Ni had received a 66.15 on the dive in the preliminaries.
Still, the fourth-place result and score of 310.40 put Ni ahead of 2008 Olympian Christina Loukas and just behind USA National Team member Jessica Livingston.
In her first season at IUPUI, Ni made an immediate impact, picking up school records on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards, along with the platform. After sweeping both the 1-meter and 3-meter events at The Summit League Championships, Ni was named the conference's diver of the year.
