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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Junior Kaylea Arnett captured the bronze medal in the 1-meter diving event at the NCAA Women’s Championships on Thursday evening, as the H₂Okies wrapped up the first day of competition at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

Arnett, who had previously never finished higher than 10th in the 1-meter event, reached Thursday night’s finals after taking second in the afternoon’s preliminaries with a score of 307.60, less than five points behind the leader.

In her final six dives, the Spring, Texas native racked up 332.70 points to take third place, just over a point behind the silver medalist.

With the performance, Arnett garners All-American honors for the second time in her career, after taking home the award in the platform event as a freshman. The third-place finish is also the highest finish ever at the NCAA Championships for a Virginia Tech performer.

“I am extremely proud of Kaylea’s performance today,” Head Diving Coach Ron Piemonte said. “It was a pressure cooker of a final and she remained calm and competed very well throughout. We are thrilled for her to get the highest NCAA finish in program history!”

Junior Kelli Stockton and freshman Ashley Buchter, who also competed in Thursday afternoon’s preliminaries, took home 24th and 28th places, respectively.

Earlier in the day, sophomores Holly Harper and Weronika Paluszek, freshman Maggie Gruber and senior Katarina Filova clocked a 3:37.44 in the 400 medley relay prelims to capture 24th place.

As a team, Tech sits tied for 16th place with 16 points after the first day of competition.

The H₂Okies will be back in action on Friday, as the relay squad will be back in the pool for the 800 freestyle relay preliminaries, while Paluszek will kick off her individual events with the 100 breaststroke prelims. The 3-meter diving event will also take place tomorrow afternoon.

Prelims will begin at 12 p.m. EST tomorrow, while finals are scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.

Links to the championship central and live results can be found above. Live streaming will also be available throughout the day, including on ESPN3 for the evening’s finals.

Award image courtesy of Tim Binning

For updates on Virginia Tech swimming & diving, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_SwimDive