2017 NCAA ZONE DIVING
- Zones A, B, D & E: Monday, March 6 – Wednesday, March 8
- Zone C: Thursday, March 9 – Saturday, March 11
- Host schools:
- Zone A: Virginia Tech
- Zone B: Auburn
- Zone C: Indiana
- Zone D: Missouri
- Zone E: Northern Arizona
- NCAA selection primer
Virginia Tech added one male and one female diver to its NCAA rosters on the final day of NCAA Zone A’s championships. That was led by platform champ Thomas Shinholser.
Ashley Buchter also earned a qualifying spot for the Hokies. Mauro Silva also earned a reimbursement slot. He was already eligible after a 5th-place finish on 3-meter, but jumped into reimbursement status with silver on platform.
Harvard’s Jing Leung won the women’s platform event to give the Crimson its only NCAA diving qualifier.
In terms of the NCAA team battle, Virginia’s women were the biggest team to earn another diver. Kylie Towbin grabbed a reimbursement slot with silver, joining Sydney Dusel on the NCAA roster.
| Priority | Finisher | Women | Men |
| 1 | 3-meter Champ | Meme Sharp, PITT | Dominic Giordano, PITT |
| 2 | 1-meter Champ | Addison Walkowiak, RUTG | Hector Garcia, PSU |
| 3 | Platform Champ | Jing Leung, HARV | Thomas Shinholser, VT |
| 4 | 3-meter 2nd | ||
| 5 | 1-meter 2nd | Alyssa Black, RUTG | Benjamin Schiesl, VT |
| 6 | Platform 2nd | Kylie Towbin, UVA | Mauro Silva, VT |
| 7 | 3-meter 3rd | Alexandra Butera, UCONN | Ian Shelton, UVA |
| 8 | 1-meter 3rd | Olivia Lehman, JMU | |
| 9 | Platform 3rd | Ashley Buchter, VT | |
| 10 | 3-meter 4th | Jayden Pantel, CUD | |
| 11 | 1-meter 4th | Bradley Buchter, NAVY | |
| 12 | Platform 4th | ||
| 13 | 3-meter 5th | Sydney Dusel, UVA | |
| 14 | 1-meter 5th | Emma Roush, MASS | Eduardo Castro, VT |
| 15 | Platform 5th | Rachel Byrne, RUTG | — |
| 16 | 3-meter 6th | Ashlynn Peters, VT | — |
| 17 | 1-meter 6th | — | |
| 18 | Platform 6th | — | |
| 19 | 3-meter 7th | Abbey Croce, BUFF | — |
| 20 | 1-meter 7th | — | — |
| 21 | Platform 7th | — | — |
(Athletes in bold are locked in for NCAA reimbursement. Athletes who have doubled up on qualifying spots are noted with a line through their lower priority slot.)
NCAA ZONE QUALIFYING PROCEDURES
From our refresher post, which you can find here.
Divers qualify for the NCAA Championships through Zone Meets spread across the country. Each zone earns a set number of NCAA qualifying spots based on the performances of that Zone at NCAAs in the past.
Here are the qualifying spots for each event in each zone:
WOMEN
| 1M | 3M | PLATFORM | |
| Zone A | 5 | 7 | 6 |
| Zone B | 10 | 9 | 7 |
| Zone C | 8 | 9 | 6 |
| Zone D | 7 | 7 | 11 |
| Zone E | 11 | 9 | 11 |
MEN
| 1M | 3M | PLATFORM | |
| Zone A | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| Zone B | 8 | 10 | 9 |
| Zone C | 5 | 7 | 7 |
| Zone D | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Zone E | 9 | 5 | 7 |
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.
| WOMEN | MEN | |
| Zone A | 5 | 5 |
| Zone B | 9 | 9 |
| Zone C | 8 | 6 |
| Zone D | 8 | 9 |
| Zone E | 11 | 6 |
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.
Impressive week for the Hokies