Georgia Southern University swimming and diving team diver Sara Meisenhelder was named the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association Diver of the Week on Jan. 25.

 Meisenhelder broke two school records during GSU’s home meet against Florida Gulf Coast University on Jan. 21. New records were set by Meisenhelder in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events. In the 1-meter, Meisenhelder’s dive score of 263.25 replaced a score of 269.01 set 14 years prior by Mindy Hall. In addition, Meisenhelder’s dive score of 265.35 on the 3-meter replaced the nine year legacy of Leslie Williams’ dive score of 283.57.

 Meisenhelder was proud to have achieved her personal goal of breaking the school record in the 3-meter.

 “I just focused on doing the best that I could on every single dive and hoped that right when I took off everything turned out for the best, and luckily it did, so I was really proud,” Meisenhelder said. “I wasn’t expecting to break the one on one-meter at all, so I was pretty happy about that.”

 Meisenhelder is a sophomore at GSU whose dedication to pursue college diving brought her to Statesboro from Carmel, Ind.

 “I’ve been a diver for twelve years and I knew I wanted to do it in college,” Meisenhelder said.  “I looked at schools and I fell in love with this one because of the team and the coaches.”

 Meisenhelder draws her motivation to succeed on the diving board from her teammates.

“I love every one of those girls, they’re all like my best friends, they’re my family and everyday when I see them it just makes me a lot happier to come to practice,” she said.

 Meisenhelder’s goals for the rest of the season are to succeed in the championship meets and make conference for the second year in a row.

 “I would like to at least place first on either one of the boards and do well scoring-wise, not just place-wise,” Meisenhelder said.

Meisenhelder will be competing, along with her teammates, in Davidson, N.C. on Jan. 28. GSU will continue its travels Feb. 16-18 for the Costal Colligate Swimming Association 2012 Championship Meet in Athens, Ga.