WVU Diving Travels to Compete at NCAA Zones
March 06, 2016 03:42 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Nine members of the West Virginia University diving team will travel to Annapolis, Maryland, to compete at the NCAA Zone A Diving Championship from March 7-9.
The event is hosted by the Naval Academy inside Lejeune Hall to determine the region’s entries for the upcoming NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship.
Live results can be found at NavySports.com. Events are set to begin on Monday, March 7, starting with the women’s 1-meter and the men’s 3-meter at noon, ET on Monday. Competition picks back up on Tuesday, March 8, with the men’s 1-meter and the women’s 3-meter, at noon, ET. Competition concludes on Wednesday, March 9, with both the men's and women's platform at 11 a.m. ET.
The nine Mountaineer divers competing at Zones are senior Lindsay Schmidt, sophomores Michael Proietto, Logan McHenry and Alex Obendorf and freshmen Averly Hobbs, Julia Calcut, Madelyn Woods, Austin Smith and Emmott Blitch.
“Saturday we had our first practice at Navy, and it was a nice preview of the facility and an opportunity for the divers to get used to the boards,” said WVU diving coach Mike Grapner. “For most of the divers at the meet this year, it is their first zone meet. The level of competition at this meet is better than anything we have seen all year. Experience is what counts for a meet like this.
“For the crew that has been here, I want them to set personal goals and work to improve on last year’s performances. For the freshmen and first-year qualifiers, I want them to seize this opportunity and put a solid list of six dives together. It has been a very rewarding season for the divers, and I'm proud to have nine of them here competing this week. I hope they apply all that they have learned and make this zone meet a positive experience.”
Zone A consists of schools that in 13 states, plus Washington D.C.: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia. There are a total of 112 divers who have qualified for the Zone A Championship on at least one event.
During the regular season, women had to score at least 265 points to qualify for Zones on 1-meter, 280 points on 3-meter and 225 points to compete on platform. The men had to attain scores of at least 300 points on 1-meter meter, 320 points on 3-meter and 300 points on platform in order to advance to the zone championships.
The top four men’s divers on 1-meter and platform and the top five on 3-meter will qualify for the NCAA Championship, while the women will advance the top five divers on 1-meter and the top six on 3-meter and platform to the NCAA meet.
Last year, five WVU divers qualified to compete at the 2015 NCAA Zone A Championships – Schmidt, Obendorf, Proietto, VandePoel and Jennifer Rey.
Obendorf competed on the men’s tower, scoring a career-best 300.85, while Schmidt placed ninth on the women’s 3-meter board, scoring 305.05.
The Mountaineer divers fell short of having any qualifiers for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.
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