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.
2020 NCAA ZONE DIVING
- Zones A, B, D, E: Monday, March 9 – Wednesday, March 13
- Zone C: Thursday, March 12 – Saturday, March 14
- Host schools, with live result links:
- Revisit our NCAA selection primer
Women:
Canadian freshman Mia Vallee won the 3-meter event to give Miami its first women’s qualifier for NCAA diving. Vallee blew out the field by almost 25 points in a dominating showing.
Four of the seven invite-earners today were already locked in via 1-meter yesterday. But the three new names could be high-impact. Vallee hadn’t yet qualified, and now looks like a strong scoring bet on 3-meter at NCAAs. Maha Gouda of Florida International was an A finalist on platform last season, and is now in line to dive all three events this season, if she can be top 12 on platform tomorrow. And Florida State’s Ayla Bonniwell made the cut today, and could affect the team points race if she can score.
For the second day in a row, Florida’s Brooke Madden failed to secure an NCAA invite. She was an A finalist on 1-meter last year but missed in that event yesterday. Platform tomorrow is her final chance to return to NCAAs.
In another big NCAA absence, Miami’s Alicia Blagg did not compete today. She was 3rd at NCAAs on 3-meter last year and projected as a title contender this year. She was 12th on 1-meter yesterday, and could still qualify through platform tomorrow, but won’t be able to dive 3-mete regardless.
Men:
South Carolina’s Anton Down-Jenkins is 2-for-2 so far in Zone B after a day 2 win on the 1-meter platform.
Down-Jenkins won by 33 in what has been a dominant weekend for the sophomore. He was a 3-meter B finalist at NCAAs last year, but struggled on 1-meter, which was his first event ever at the NCAA Championships. A year of experience is serving him well, as Down-Jenkins could be a two-event scorer and is locked into NCAAs on both springboards.
Georgia’s Zachary Allen was among the new qualifiers. He was third today. Other new names who could have an impact on the team points race: Alabama’s Zhenwei Li (who can compete on both springboards at NCAAs), and Florida State’s Cameron Thatcher (who was a 2017 NCAA scorer with Stanford, but will make his first NCAA trip with FSU this season).
Current Qualifiers
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.
