2023 NCAA Zone E Diving Championships
- March 6-8, 2023
- King County Aquatic Center – Federal Way, Washington
- Host: University of Utah
- Qualifiers
- Preview
Five divers from USC secured a spot at the 2023 NCAA Championships during the first day of the Zone E Diving Championships on Monday.
The top seven finishers on the men’s 1-meter and top eight finishers on the women’s 3-meter earned NCAA invites.
The Stanford men put two on the podium courtesy of 1-meter champion Jack Ryan (772.20) and bronze medalist Peyton Donald (738.10). The victory marked Ryan’s second Zones title after winning the 3-meter last year as a freshman. For Donald, a freshman, it was the first postseason podium finish of his career.
USC sophomore Shangfei Wang earned a runner-up finish just about 20 points behind Ryan with a score of 751.40. Wang placed 11th at NCAAs last year as a freshman while Ryan placed 25th at NCAAs last year as a freshman. Wang’s teammate, reigning Pac-12 3-meter champion George Korovin, took fourth place (731.60) ahead of fellow Trojan Laurent Gosselin-Paradis (723.95).
Men’s 1-Meter Qualifiers
- Jack Ryan (STAN) – 772.20
- Shangfei Wang (USC) – 751.40
- Peyton Donald (STAN) – 738.10
- Georgii Korovin (USC) – 731.60
- Laurent Gosselin-Paradis (USC) – 723.95
- Gael Jimenez (CBU) – 716.45
- Bjorn Markentin (ARIZ) – 676.80
Arizona graduate student Delaney Schnell led the way in the women’s 3-meter final with 727.80 points, more than 50 ahead of USC grad transfer Lina Sculti. Schnell is the reigning Pac-12 champion in both the 1-meter and 3-meter as well as an Olympic silver medalist from the Tokyo 2021.
Both Arizona (Schnell, seventh-place Quinn Gariepy) and USC (Sculti, eighth-place finisher Nike Agunbiade) qualified multiple divers along with UCLA.
After sitting outside of the auto-bid bubble in ninth at the end of prelims, UCLA senior Hannah Butler posted a season-best 329.45 in the finals to catapult up to third place. Butler (624.60) was joined by Bruins teammate Eden Cheng (609.45), who qualified sixth.
Women’s 3-Meter Qualifiers
- Delaney Schnell (ARIZ) – 727.80
- Carolina Sculti (USC) – 675.55
- Hannah Butler (UCLA) – 624.60
- Lauren Burch (STAN) – 622.75
- Holly Waxman (UTAH) – 618.70
- Eden Cheng (UCLA) – 609.45
- Quinn Gariepy (ARIZ) – 606.65
- Nike Agunbiade (USC) – 606.50
Action continues tomorrow at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center with women’s platform and men’s 3-meter prelims set to begin at 11:30 a.m. All results will be available at DiveMeets.com.
SIMPLIFIED INVITE PROCEDURES
You can read a more in-depth look at the selection process here.
Effectively, each zone earns a specific number of qualifying spots in each event, based on how that Zone performed at NCAAs last year. Divers who place inside the qualifying places earn an NCAA invite. A diver invited in one event can compete at NCAAs in any other diving event where they were top 12 in their Zone meet.
The highest-placing divers earn NCAA reimbursement, while lower-placing qualifiers can compete at NCAAs, but their school must pay for their travel and lodging at the meet.