NEWARK, Delaware – UNCW sophomore diving sensations Courtney Klausen and Kolbein Bjugan were at it again on Saturday, capturing the 1-Meter and 3-Meter titles at the 2021 Colonial Athletic Association Swimming & Diving Championships at Delaware's Rawstrom Natatorium.
Klausen successfully defended her 1M championship with a score of 282.20 points over six rounds. The Concord, Calif., native came from behind to edge James Madison's Lindsey Hammar (265.90) for the gold and was named CAA Women's Most Outstanding Performer after finishing second on the 3M and first in the 1M boards.
Bjugan, meanwhile, continue to dominate the conference's diving landscape in only his second year. The Charlotte product trailed briefly in Saturday's 3M finals, but stormed back to win easily with 332.85 points. Bjugan was selected the Men's Most Outstanding Performer for the second straight season after easily outdistancing Towson's William Canny (305.00)
The talented Bjugan has swept all four of his events at the CAA Championships over the last two seasons. He joins all-time Seahawk diving great and UNCW Athletic Hall of Famer Dean Berman as the only divers to win both the 1M and 3M board in back-to-back seasons. Berman accomplished the feat in 2005 and 2006.
"Tonight was a great night for UNCW Swimming and Diving," said UNCW's Beau Bunn, who was named CAA Men's and Women's Dive Coach of the Year. "Bringing home two golds once again shows the perseverance our student-athletes have put forth this year.
"From start to finish, Courtney and Kolbein dove exceptionally well. Kolbein led most of the meet both days. This weekend shows the conference that our young team is here to stay and that we're going to continue to get better each year.
"Caleb (Brantley) dove well today and finished fourth on the 3M. Hunter (Smith) and Morgan (Bakalar) dove very well this morning and had good opportunities, but little misses kept them out of the consolation finals."
The swimming portion of the CAA Championships begins next week, March 29-April 2, at the Christiansburg (Va.) Aquatic Center.
