Hayward Secures 15th in 1-Meter Diving in National Meet

Anderson University men's diving senior Matthew Hayward secured 15th place in the 1-meter diving event during the NCAA D-III Swimming & Diving Championships on Friday in Greensboro, N.C.

Hayward earned 14th in the 1-meter diving prelims with an 11-dive score of 435.15 points and an average of 39.56 points per dive. In the 1-meter diving finals, Hayward claimed 15th with an 11-dive score of 402.85 points and an average of 36.62 points per dive. Hayward garnered second-team all-American honors with his 15th-place finish.

On Wednesday, Hayward took 23rd in the 3-meter diving event with a score of 401.20 points and an average of 36.47 points per dive.

During his career, Hayward qualified for the NCAA D-III Diving Regionals four times. His second-place finish in this year's diving regionals propelled Hayward to qualify for the national meet, becoming the program's first-ever national qualifier.

As a freshman, Hayward missed the 1-meter diving prelims of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Championships due to injury. Despite officially finishing seventh place, Hayward recorded the second-highest score of the meet. Hayward took second in the 1-meter diving event in the conference meet as a sophomore. He then followed up by claimed second in the conference meet for both the 1-meter diving and 3-meter diving events. During his senior year, Hayward swept the conference titles for both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events. With the sweep, Hayward was selected as the HCAC Diver of the Year. Throughout his career, Hayward has been named HCAC Diver of the Week 20 times, including 11 this season.

Hayward closes his career as the school-record holder in both the 11-dive 1-meter diving event (520.65) and the 11-dive 3-meter diving event (508.80).

"What a ride and what a great way to end this season," Emma Furnish stated. "Matthew has worked his tail off to get where he is today. It wasn't easy, but I think it's safe to say that it was worth it. It is truly an honor to represent Anderson University at the NCAA D-III Swimming & Diving Championships! It's a great day to be a Raven."

"Matthew's swan song of a senior year left me feeling nothing but pride and admiration," Assistant Diving Coach Miles Rohrbaugh said. "He worked insanely hard in the pool; every practice, every dryland session, every meet. His drive to improve is second to none and I am beyond honored to have been his coach for his final season in the sport. He got to represent AU on the national stage for the first time in our program's history, won both diving events at the HCAC Championships by a considerable margin (also something he had never done before) and demolished each and every AU diving record (which he had held in the first place.) I am a very proud coach."

"Overall it was a great season," Matthew Hayward said. "I feel happy that I left it all on the board, all season and gave it my all. The meet didn't go quite how I would have liked, but at the end of the day, I can't complain about being an all-American. The meet atmosphere was impeccable and honestly intimidating at first. I just thought over the last 15 years of my diving career and how long I've been training moments like this and it really helped calm me down and stay locked in. Sadly, this is it for me. I couldn't have done any of it without the support of my amazing team and coaches. If I could go back and redo anything, I wouldn't change a thing. All glory to God. The job is finished and with that being said, Mcdivedude out."