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Texas Qualifies Two Male, Three Female Divers For NCAAs To Open Zone D Champs

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.

2022 NCAA ZONE DIVING

  • Zone A: US Naval Academy / Annapolis, Md.
  • Zone B: Georgia Tech Aquatic Center / Atlanta, Ga.
  • Zone C: Canham Natatorium / Ann Arbor, Mich.
  • Zone D: Soderholm Aquatic Center / Madison, Wisc.
  • Zone E: Wall Aquatic Center / Flagstaff, Ariz.

Texas had a great start to the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships on Monday at the University of Wisconsin, getting two men and three women qualified for the NCAA Championships.

Men’s 3-Meter

The competition started off with the men’s 3-meter, as LSU’s Juan Hernandez, who was third in the event at the 2021 NCAAs, placed first with a score of 903.00, leading Texas A&M’s Kurtis Mathews (811.65) and Tiger teammate Adrian Abadia Garcia (799.20).

For the Longhorns, who will be vying for a second consecutive NCAA title later this month, they had Noah Duperre and Manuel Borowski qualify to compete at nationals, placing sixth and seventh, respectively. Duperre scored six points in this event by placing 11th at NCAAs last season.

There were a total of eight qualifying spots on the line in the event, with Wisconsin’s Tazman Abramowicz, Minnesota’s Jake Butler and Mizzou’s Takuto Endo also punching their tickets.

Texas’ Jordan Windle, the NCAA runner-up last season, is ineligible to compete after receiving a U.S. Center for SafeSport suspension in December.

Women’s 1-Meter

Defending NCAA champion Sarah Bacon reigned supreme in the women’s 1-meter event, coming out on top for the Golden Gophers with a final score of 688.25.

There were 10 qualifying spots up for grabs in this event, and the Texas Longhorns qualified three women for NCAAs, with sophomore Bridget O’Neil, freshman Hailey Hernandez and senior Paola Pineda placing second, third and fifth, respectively. Pineda was notably fifth in this event at NCAAs last season.

QUALIFIERS LIST

Reimbursed divers are in bold, with invited-but-not-reimbursed divers in non-bold. You can read more about the distinction below.

Women

Diver Event(s)
Sarah Bacon, Minnesota 1m
Bridget O’Neil, Texas 1m
Hailey Hernandez, Texas 1m
Chiara Pellacani, LSU 1m
Paolo Pineda, Texas 1m
Helle Tuxen, LSU 1m
Joy Zhu, Minnesota 1m
Montserrat Lavenant, LSU 1m
Aimee Wilson, Texas A&M 1m
Chloe Ceyanes, Texas A&M 1m

Men

Diver Event(s)
Juan Hernandez, LSU 3m
Kurtis Mathews, Texas A&M 3m
Adrian Abadia Garcia, LSU 3m
Tazman Abramowicz, Wisconsin 3m
Jake Butler, Minnesota 3m
Noah Duperre, Texas 3m
Mark Borowski, Texas 3m
Takuto Endo, Mizzou 3m

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.

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diver
2 years ago

Not a great day for the Texas divers. Two qualifications were expected but Harness and McCourt did not have good days. More chances tomorrow

historyteacher
Reply to  diver
2 years ago

Good thing these scores don’t count for the NCAAs.
Hook ’em Horns!

Horninco
Reply to  historyteacher
2 years ago

Well, they still need to qualify and since Harness and McCourt were not top 12 they can’t dive this board at NCAA’s no matter what

diver
Reply to  Horninco
2 years ago

I’d say today cost the horns 10-15 possible points based on harness and McCourts history. Cal is extremely happy. That could be the difference

OldSwimmer
Reply to  diver
2 years ago

The Texas WOMEN divers did have a great day.

greenbelt
Reply to  OldSwimmer
2 years ago

They were amazing

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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