Though we’re not DiveDove, we do dabble in diving coverage, and as diving can have a major impact on the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships, we cover NCAA Zone Diving – mainly through the lens of how national diving qualifiers could impact the team points battles later this month.
2018 NCAA ZONE DIVING
- Zones A, B, D, E: Monday, March 5 – Wednesday, March 7
- Zone C: Thursday, March 8 – Saturday, March 10
- Host schools:
- Zone A: Rutgers University
- Zone B: University of Tennessee
- Zone C: Ohio State University
- Zone D: University of Minnesota
- Zone E: Northern Arizona University
- NCAA selection primer
Indiana’s Michael Hixon won his second-straight event on day 2 of the Zone C Diving Championships, with Miami (OH)’s Pei Lin winning the women’s board.
The men’s top three remained stable from last night, with Hixon winning again and last night’s runner-up James Connor moving to third behind last night’s third-placer Steele Johnson.
For the women, last night’s champ Jessica Parratto was second behind Pei, with last night’s runner-up Olivia Rosendahl moving to third for Northwestern. It was mostly repeat qualifiers on night 2, but one top-10 program did add a new diver: Louisville, with Molly Fears making the NCAA cut in 4th.
Here’s a look at the current qualifying chart:
QUALIFYING CHART
Athletes in bold have earned NCAA reimbursement.
| Priority | Finisher | Women | Men |
| 1 | 3-meter Champ | Pei Lin, MIA | Michael Hixon, IU |
| 2 | 1-meter Champ | Jessica Parratto, IU | Michael Hixon, IU |
| 3 | Platform Champ | ||
| 4 | 3-meter 2nd | Jessica Parratto, IU | James Connor, IU |
| 5 | 1-meter 2nd | Olivia Rosendahl, NU | Steele Johnson, PUR |
| 6 | Platform 2nd | ||
| 7 | 3-meter 3rd | Olivia Rosendahl, NU | Steele Johnson, PUR |
| 8 | 1-meter 3rd | Samantha Reese, PUR | James Connor, IU |
| 9 | Platform 3rd | ||
| 10 | 3-meter 4th | Molly Fears, UL | Joseph Coumous, ND |
| 11 | 1-meter 4th | Pei Lin, MIA | Joseph Cifelli, PUR |
| 12 | Platform 4th | ||
| 13 | 3-meter 5th | Samantha Reese, PUR | Christopher Law, OSU |
| 14 | 1-meter 5th | Talisa Lemke, BGSU |
Sebastian Masterton, UK
|
| 15 | Platform 5th | ||
| 16 | 3-meter 6th | Genevieve Angerame, OSU | Stephen Romanik, OSU |
| 17 | 1-meter 6th | Erin Isola, ND | Joseph Cuomos, ND |
| 18 | Platform 6th | ||
| 19 | 3-meter 7th | Alexandra Shereda, EMU |
Sebastian Masterton, UK
|
| 20 | 1-meter 7th | Kelly Straub, ND | Andrew Capobianco, IU |
| 21 | Platform 7th | ||
| 22 | 3-meter 8th | Nikki Canale, BGSU | Andrew Capobianco, IU |
| 23 | 1-meter 8th | Morgan Meixner, PUR | Kevin Frebel, UK |
| 24 | Platform 8th | ||
| 25 | 3-meter 9th | Talisa Lemke, PUR | Ross Todd, MICH |
| 26 | 1-meter 9th | — | Joseph Smith, OAK |
| 27 | Platform 9th | ||
| 28 | 3-meter 10th | Morgan Meixner, PUR | Joseph Cifelli, PUR |
| 29 | 1-meter 10th | — | Stephen Romanik, OSU |
| 30 | Platform 10th | ||
| 31 | 3-meter 11th | — | — |
| 32 | 1-meter 11th | — | — |
| 33 | Platform 11th | — |
Take a look at the qualifying spots for each zone and each event:There are five zone meets spread across the country that allow divers to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Based on performances at the previous NCAAs each zone earns a set number of qualifying spots.NCAA Diving QUALIFYING PROCEDURES
WOMEN
| WOMEN | ELIGIBILITY | ||
| 1m | 3m | Platform | |
| Zone A | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Zone B | 7 | 7 | 9 |
| Zone C | 8 | 10 | 10 |
| Zone D | 11 | 9 | 9 |
| Zone E | 9 | 9 | 8 |
MEN
| MEN | ELIGIBILITY | ||
| 1m | 3m | Platform | |
| Zone A | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Zone B | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| Zone C | 10 | 10 | 11 |
| Zone D | 9 | 8 | 6 |
| Zone E | 5 | 7 | 7 |
A priority chart determines who gets the reimbursement spots. The first priority spot is taken by the winner of each event beginning with the 3-meter champ, followed by the 1-meter champ and then the platform champ. If an athlete wins two events, they will still only take up one slot which means the NCAA will keep adding rows to this chart until the zone meet reimbursement quota is met.
According to the rules set in 2015 that allowed more divers into the meet, any diver who lands in the qualifying spots for their zone earns a spot to compete in the NCAA Championships. If the diver earns eligibility in one event, they can automatically compete in any of the other two events at NCAAs as long as they finished in the top 12 in their zone in that event.
The NCAA made a distinction between “eligible” and “reimbursed” athletes. Divers qualifying outside of the reimbursement spots will not have their travel, lodging, or meet expenses covered by the NCAA. Instead the individual school must decide if they’re willing to pay the bill themselves to give that diver an opportunity to participate in the NCAA Championships.
| REIMBURSEMENT | ||
| Women | Men | |
| Zone A | 4 | 4 |
| Zone B | 6 | 7 |
| Zone C | 10 | 10 |
| Zone D | 12 | 9 |
| Zone E | 9 | 5 |
I want to know why outstanding divers such as IU’s James Connor and Michael Hixon are not in the platform completion as they were in the 1 and 3 springboard. Yet and still, Steele Johnson was included in all three competitions. What am I missing?
Some divers just don’t focus on platform, while others do. Kind of like how some elite breaststrokers also swim the IM (Licon) and others don’t (Cordes).
Speaking purely anecdotally, it feels to me that standout platform guys like Steele Johnson are more likely to branch out and also do springboards, becuase specializing only in platform would only give them one collegiate event. Springboard guys like Hixon and Connor already have two springboard events to focus on, so there may be less incentive to split time with platforms.
Hixon’s freshman year he competed platform and placed 7th, after winning both springboard events.
That’s because the Longhorns wanted to win NCAA and needed his points (he was with Texas before he transferred to IU).