WVU Begins NCAA Zone A Diving Championships

Monday, March 9

Morgantown, W.Va.

12 p.m.

West Virginia University

NCAA Zone A Diving Championships

Owen Johns dives in the three meter event.

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

Nick Cover dives in the three meter event.

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

Jake Lowe dives in the three meter event.

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

Austin Smith dives in the three meter event.

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

Holly Darling dives in the one meter event.

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

Jacob Cardinal Tremblay dives in the three meter event.

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

Callie Smith dives in the one meter event.

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

Marian Tiemeier dives in the one meter event.

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

Camille Burt dives in the one meter event.

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

The NCAA Zone Diving Championships are underway at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park through Wednesday.

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

March 09, 2020 05:59 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Results (PDF)Photo Gallery

By: Olivia VanHorn

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Four members of the West Virginia University men's and women's swimming and diving teams qualified for finals to open the first day of the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships, hosted by the Mountaineers at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park on Monday.

Redshirt sophomore Jacob Cardinal Tremblay represented the men in the 3-meter springboard final, while sophomore Camille Burt and freshmen Holly Darling and Marian Tiemeier represented the women on 1-meter. Darling paced the squad, placing ninth overall with a total score of 524.25. Tiemeier took 13th with a mark of 513.30, while Burt followed in 14th (511.85). Tremblay finished 12th overall in the men's final, earning a score of 638.85.

All 10 Mountaineer Zones qualifiers competed on Monday, as a total of 43 men and 62 women competed on the opening day of competition. The top 18 divers from the preliminary round reached the finals in each event.

"Today was a great first day for the divers," diving coach Michael Grapner said. "The ladies were outstanding. I'm incredibly proud of their hard work and dedication. Having three of four girls make finals really helped us turn an individual sport into a team atmosphere. Jacob was more consistent today that I have seen him all season. He put it all together and had some amazing dives.

"It's tough to coach sometimes when you are the meet director and host of such a big event," Grapner said of the program's first-ever hosting of the event. "I thought today went really well, and the WVU staff and team are doing an outstanding job."

In the men's 3-meter competition, Tremblay notched a prelim score of 308.90 to reach the finals and take 15th place. He improved his overall position in finals, adding 329.95 to his total score to move up to 12th place. Sophomore Nick Cover followed Tremblay in 21st with a score of 288.35, followed by redshirt sophomore Jake Lowe in 22nd (286.90).

Sophomore PJ Lenz was just behind Lowe in 23rd, earning a mark of 281.70. Rounding out the Mountaineer finishers were redshirt senior Austin Smith in 32nd (255.20) and freshman Owen Johns in 33rd (254.20).

On the women's side, Burt led the way with an eighth-place finish in prelims. She notched a score of 265.55, before adding 246.30 in finals to finish 14th overall. Darling rounded out the top-10 in prelims with a score of 260.10, then she added 264.15 in the finals to move up one spot to ninth. Tiemeier finished 17th in prelims after reaching a mark of 252.25, but she improved her placement in finals, finishing 13th after adding 261.05.

Also competing for the women on Monday was junior Callie Smith, who finished 31st in prelims with a score of 233.10.

West Virginia is hosting the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships for the first time in program history.

Competition continues Tuesday, March 10, with action at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park beginning at 12 p.m. ET. The women are tabbed to compete on 3-meter springboard, while the men will compete on 1-meter. Live results from the meet are available at DiveMeets.com.

For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUSwimDive on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.