Kenosha, Wis. -- The 2026 CCIW Diving Championships began on Friday evening, as men's and women's divers from four schools traveled to the campus of Carthage College for the first session of this weekend's two-day competition. Tonight's program consisted of the men's 1-meter and women's 3-meter events, while Saturday's slate will hold the opposite. Wheaton was represented in the men's 1-meter field by three student-athletes today, and senior Mateo Anderson earned an award placement by coming in fifth in the 11-diver competition.

This year's 1-meter title was retained by the reigning conference champion from Carthage College, who topped the podium with a dominant score of 448.55. The hosting Firebirds claimed three of the event's top four spots, while an Augustana diver finished in third place. The veteran Anderson began his final CCIW meet with his highest scoring performance in the 1-meter event at the conference championships, as he tallied a mark of 317.70 after 11 dives to come in fifth place.

Freshman jumper Sam Moss registered a season-high score of 267.85 tonight to finish eighth in the event and surpass his previous best showing in the 1-meter by a noteworthy 39 points. Sophomore Josiah Ferguson earned a mark of 245.70 to place 11th in this evening's field and improve on his 2025 conference finals score by 26 points.

Anderson, Ferguson, and Moss will return to action on Saturday in the men's 3-meter competition, an event that was won by Anderson two years ago.