Georgia Now Has To Decide Between Diver Or 18th Swimmer For NCAA’s After Day 1 Of Diving Zones

NCAA Zone Diving meets began today, and this season, a major change takes effect to the NCAA qualifying rules.

The biggest story of the day comes from the women’s 3m springboard at the Zone B Diving Championships. Georgia was already at the roster limit of 18 for the Women’s NCAA Championships with their swim team alone before the start of the zone championships. Today, Georgia’s Olivia Ball, created a good problem to have for the Bulldogs. She was invited to the meet after after finishing third on the 3m springboard at the Zone B Championships.

Now the Georgia coaching staff has a tough decision to make. Do they leave behind one of your invited swimmers to make room on the roster for Ball, or leave Ball home and let the 18 swimmers challenge Cal Berkeley in the pool for the national title?

It seems more likely that Georgia will bring their diver, but we will not know that for sure until the meet starts in two weeks. If Georgia does bring their diver, the first alternate for the NCAA Championships, Maria Carlson from Wisconsin, will be bumped into the meet.

At the moment we are unsure what will happen if Georgia chooses not to take any divers. 7 athletes will be invited from the 3m springboard event at the Zone B Championships this year. South Carolina’s Patti Kranz finished 8th in Zone’s B 3 meter event, leaving her on the wrong side of the line. If Georgia doesn’t bring their diver, however, there is a chance Kranz could be invited to fulfill the 9 spots from that event. It is also possible that she will still not be invited even if Ball’s invitation is declined.

For a refresher on NCAA Diving Qualifying procedures, click here.

Below are the invites from the first day of the 2015 Zone Diving Championships:

Zone A 

Men’s 1 Meter Springboard (5 Invites)

1. Dominic Giordano – Pittsburgh
2. Jakob Kolod – Virginia
3. Thomas Shinholser – Virginia Tech
4. Michael Mosca – Harvard
5. Anthony Galante – Pittsburgh

Women’s 3 Meter Springboard (7 Invites)

1. Kelli Stockton – Virginia Tech
2. Taryn Urbanus – Connecticut
3. Rachel Eckert – Old Dominion
4. Caitlin Chambes – Princeton
5. Rebecca Corbett – Virginia
6. Ashley Buchter – Virginia Tech
7. Kaylea Arnett – Virginia Tech

Zone B 

Men’s 1 Meter Springboard (9 Invites)

1. Samuel Dorman – Miami
2. Briadam Herrera – Miami
3. Mauricio Robles Rodriguez – Tennessee
4. Jack Nyquist – UNC
5. Fraser McKean – Auburn
6. Liam Stone – Tennessee
7. Justin Youtsey – Auburn
8. Jordan Gotro – South Carolina
9. Cole Miller – South Carolina

Women’s 3 Meter Springboard (7 Invites)

1. Julia Vincent (South Carolina)
2. Thea Vock (Miami)
3. Olivia Ball (Georgia)
4. Cheyenne Cosineau (Miami)
5. Wallace Layland (Miami)
6. Elissa Dawson (North Carolina)
7. Kahlia Warner (Florida)
8. Patti Kranz?? (South Carolina)

Zone C 

*Starts Thursday, March 12

Zone D 

Men’s 1 Meter Springboard (8 Invites)

1. Clark Thomas – Missouri
2. Cory Bowersox – Texas
3. Will Chandler – Texas
4. Mark Anderson – Texas
5. Manny Pollard – Minnesota
6. Deniel Helm – LSU
7. Devin Burnett – SMU
8. Garrett Nevels – Missouri St

Women’s 3 Meter Springboard (10 Invites)

1. Samantha Bromberg – Texas
2. Cassie Well – LSU
3. Lauren Reedy – Missouri
4. Alexandra Bettridge – LSU
5. Meghan Houston – Texas
6. Emma Ivory-Ganja – Texas
7. Anna Filipcic – Nebraska
8. Lexi Tenenbaum – Minnesota
9. Yu Zhou – Minnesota
10. Katy Etterman – Minnesota

Zone E 

Men’s 1 Meter Springboard (9 Invites)

1. Kristina Ipsen – Stanford
2. Rafael Quintero – Arizona
3. Collin Pollard – USC
4. Bradley Christensen – Stanford
5. Jacob Crayne – Utah
6. Amund Gismervik – Hawaii
7. Jordan Gear – USC
8. Ross Edfort – Denver
9. Nathan Gonzales – BYU

Women’s 3 Meter Springboard (8 Invites)

1. Hailey Casper – Arizona State
2. Samantha Pickens – Arizona
3. Maria Polyakova – UCLA
4. Krysta Palmer – Nevada
5. Annika Lenz – UCLA
6. Aimee Harrison – Hawaii
7. Kassidy Cook – Stanford
8. Haley Ishimatsu – USC