2025 NCAA Zone Diving Recap: Monday

2025 NCAA Zone Diving Championships

• Zone A
  • March 10-12, 2025
  • Piscataway, New Jersey
  • Results
• Zone B
  • March 9-12, 2025
  • Auburn, Alabama
  • Results
• Zone C
  • March 10-12, 2025
  • Columbus, Ohio
  • Results
• Zone D
  • March 10-12, 2025
  • Iowa City, Iowa
  • Results
• Zone E
  • March 10-12, 2025
  • Federal Way, Washington
  • Results

While the 2025 NCAA Championship swimming qualifiers are all but locked in, the divers are competing over the next few days to secure their spots. Unlike in swimming, divers are not able to qualify to the NCAA’s during the regular season. The nature of diving is such that the judging cannot be fully standardized across the nation, so the NCAA hosts five different “zone” meets across the nation to award Championship qualification. The locations of each of the meets cover a certain regional area and teams must attend their assigned zone location.

Each event within each zone is awarded a certain number of automatic qualifying spots. In the interest of simplicity, the number of qualifying spots zones received is a reflection of how well divers from that zone placed at the previous NCAA Championships. No matter how many automatic qualifying spots a zone has, athletes who place in the top 12 but are outside of the qualifying standard are basically awarded what is the equivalent to a “B” cut in swimming. Meaning that as long as they are a qualifier in one event, they may compete in others in which they placed top 12 in at zones.

And if the NCAA qualifying procedures for divers weren’t complicated enough as is, the zone meet is structured slightly differently than other regular season and championship meets. This postseason competition is run as a prelims-finals meet and cumulative scoring. This means each dive counts equally and consistency is key to success at this meet.

***Divers listed below with a star indicates those who achieved what is essentially their “B” cut***

Zone A (Piscataway, NJ)

Women’s 3-meter (6 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Katerina Hoffman (Rutgers) – 714.85
2. Elizabeth Kaye (Virginia) – 674.25
3. Sephora Ford (Rutgers) – 640.05
4. Bailee Sturgill (Rutgers) – 627.40
5. Charlotte Martinkus (Princeton) – 626.80
6. Holly Prasanto (Rutgers) – 626.05
7. Marialis Kwak (Buffalo) – 617.90*
8. Gloria Lai (Yale) – 602.40*
9. Hayden Henderson (Yale) – 601.00*
10. Ennika Carlson (Harvard) – 595.60 *
11. Grace Austin (Virginia Tech) – 588.65*
12. Amelia Scott (Rutgers) – 585.35*

The Rutgers girls had a great day and took charge of this zone. They accounted for four of the six automatic qualifying spots. With Lizzy Kaye’s official NCAA qualification coming today, UVA now has a decision to make. They have the maximum 18 swimmers qualified to the meet, so to bring her, they would have to leave a swimmer home.

Men’s 1-meter (4 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Andrew Bell (UMASS) – 747.25
2. Cameron Cash (Pitt) – 697.85
3. Rowland Lawver (Brown) – 670.10
4. Nathan Cox (Virginia Tech) – 669.30
5. Aidan Wang (Princeton) – 662.00*
6. Hayden Elliott (Penn State) – 651.70*
7. Noah Bernard (Pitt) – 643.30*
8. Rocky Ramsland (Virginia Tech) – 628.65*
9. Jacob Fisher (Virginia Tech) – 625.25*
10. Isaac Poole (UMBC) – 624.35*
11. Chase Marafioto (Pitt) – 619.10*
12. Finnian Gelbach (Navy) – 612.90*

Senior Pitt All-American, Cameron Cash officially punched his ticket to his fourth consecutive NCAA Championship appearance today. Today was just one meter and Cash generally performs better the higher he dives from. On Monday, this event was controlled by University of Massachusetts, Amherst’s Andrew Bell, who won by nearly 50 points.

Zone B (Auburn, AL)

Women’s 1 meter (9 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Camyla Monroy (Florida) – 632.60
2. Lanie Gutch (UNC) – 631.45
3. Chiara Pellacani (Miami) – 626.10
4. Mia Vallee (Miami) – 619.25
5. Aranza Vazquez Montano (UNC) – 617.75
6. Sophie Verzyl (South Carolina) – 614.60
7. Margo O’Meara (Duke) – 592.25
8. Samantha Vear (Florida State) – 584.30
9. Frida Zuniga Guzman (East Carolina) – 574.55
10. Lynae Shorter (Tennessee) – 552.80*
11. Chloe Brothers (Auburn) – 546.10*
12. Ellie Joyce (UNC) – 544.60*

Both Miami and UNC heavily rely on their divers to perform well at NCAAs to boost their team rankings, and both of those squads are off to strong starts. This is a particularly strong field, as the entire ACC one-meter podium and the top two SEC finishers are competing here. Frida Zuniga Guzman of mid-major East Carolina snagged the final automatic qualifying position after narrowly missing NCAA qualification the past two seasons.

Men’s 3-meter (8 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Maxwell Flory (Miami) – 860.90
2. Max Fowler (Georgia Tech) – 788.50
3. Matthew Bray (Georgia) – 754.30
4. Whit Andrus (Auburn) – 752.25
5. Peyton Donald (Florida) – 751.95
6. Renato Calderaro (Georgia) – 742.85
7. Jesus Gonzalez (Florida) – 736.85
8. Bennett Greene (Tennessee) – 726.20
9. Conor Gesing (Florida) – 722.80*
10. Owen Redfearn (Tennessee) – 714.25*
11. Christopher Booler (UNC) – 711.15*
12. Nicholas Stone (Tennessee) – 699.55*

As this was the second official day of competition for Zone B, many of these men qualified for their second event at the NCAA championships. Importantly for the Florida Gators, Peyton Donald and Jesus Gonzalez both officially qualified today. They both achieved the “B qualifying standard” on the one meter yesterday, so all three Gators (including Gesing) will be competing in both springboard events in Federal Way. Miami’s Maxwell Flory had a great day today across both of his competition lists. He could very well be a potential surprise springboard title contender in a couple of weeks.

Zone C (Columbus, OH)

Women’s 3-meter (10 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Daryn Wright (Purdue) – 687.45
2. Avery Worobel (Purdue) – 686.70
3. Sophia McAfee (Purdue) – 657.90
4. Skyler Liu (Indiana) – 645.45
5. Ella Roselli (Indiana) – 638.50
6. Grace Courtney (Notre Dame) – 638.45
7. Paola Pineda (Ohio State) – 636.00
8. Lily Witte (Indiana) – 634.25
9. Lindsay Gizzi (Louisville) – 594.05
10. Kiarra Milligan (Michigan) – 578.65
11. Jenna Sonnenberg (Purdue) – 572.60*
12. Avery Giese (Kentucky) – 566.70*

This event was all Indiana and Purdue. The Purdue trio of Daryn Wright, Avery Worobel, and Sophia McAfee dominated to take the top three spots and earn their NCAA qualifications. The Indiana Hoosiers were just as successful, also qualifying three women to compete in Washington later this month. For unknown reasons, Ohio State’s Lena Henschel did not compete today, and, subsequently, did not earn an invite. The Buckeyes surely would’ve hoped to see her score for them at NCAA’s.

Men’s 1 meter (10 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Quinn Henninger (Indiana) – 752.30
2. Carson Tyler (Indiana) – 736.00
3. Jordan Rzepka (Purdue) – 701.40
4. Maxwell Weinrich (Indiana) – 700.25
5. Zachary Welsh (Purdue) – 698.10
6. Sebastian Otero (IU, Indianapolis) – 674.95
7. Tyler Read (Ohio State) – 672.00
8. Samuel Duncan (Kentucky) – 663.65
9. Maxwell Miller (Purdue) – 652.55
10. Cameron Gammage (Michigan) – 644.25
11. Dash Glasberg (Indiana) – 644.05*
12. Joshua Sollenberger (Indiana) – 637.40*

Just like on the women’s side, it was Purdue and Indiana running the show on the one-meter today. Both schools qualified three men each on the opening day and comprised a majority of qualification spots for Zone C. The Hoosiers could have five competing in this event for them in Federal Way, as two of their athletes achieved the ‘B’ cut, but Glasberg and Sollenberger would need to place high enough to automatically qualify at least once over the next couple days.

Zone D (Iowa City, IA)

Women’s 3-meter (10 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Alejandra Estudillo (Texas) – 687.45
2. Shiyun Lai (Kansas) – 686.55
3. Anna Kwong (TCU) – 675.40
4. Maria Sanchez-Moreno (Arkansas) – 638.55
5. Viviana Del Angel (Minnesota) – 637.10
6. Else Praasterink (Texas A&M) – 635.60
7. Megan Jolly (Mizzou) – 635.00
8. Bayleigh Cranford (Texas) – 626.75
9. Abigail Baxter (Nebraska) – 624.70
10. Michelle McLeod (Houston) – 624.45
11. Hailey Hernandez (Texas) – 624.15*
12. Taylor Fox (Texas) – 623.80*

Unlike Zone C, Zone D’s qualifying females on day one came from a diverse group of schools. Texas is the only school to boast multiple qualifiers in this field. However, both of the “B cut” recipients are Longhorns, so there could be up to four of them competing on the three-meter in Washington.

Men’s 1-meter (9 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Yutong Wang (Minnesota) – 770.15
2. Nicholas Harris (Texas) – 743.40
3. Luke Sitz (SMU) – 735.90
4. Allen Bottego (Texas A&M) – 704.05
5. Jacob Jones (Texas) – 695.65
6. David Ekdahl (TCU) – 686.50
7. Andrew Bennett (Minnesota) – 681.75
8. Collier Dyer (Mizzou) – 666.50
9. Jacob Welsh (Texas) – 663.45
10. Luke Forester (Texas) – 644.50*
11. Jaxon Bowshire (Texas A&M) – 639.15*
12. Rhett Hensley (Texas A&M) – 632.40*

Texas was the big winner from Iowa City on the men’s side, qualifying three divers to NCAAs on the opening day of the competition. The University of Minnesota qualified two divers today, marking a good day for the Golden Gophers. SMU’s freshman standout, Luke Sitz punched his ticket to his first NCAA championships today as well.

Zone E (Federal Way, WA)

Women’s 3-meter (8 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Kate Miller (USC) – 639.30
2. Alexia Jackson (BYU) – 623.90
3. Violet Williamson (California) – 613.75
4. Brooke Earley (Arizona) – 598.60
5. Callie Eaglestone (Utah) – 597.15
6. Valentina Lopez Arevalo (San Diego St) – 591.65
7. Eden Cheng (UCLA) – 589.80
8. Anna Lemkin (Stanford) – 589.80
9. Emilie Moore (Stanford) – 586.50*
10. Holly Waxman (Utah) – 582.55*
11. Lauren Burch (Stanford) – 574.65*
12. Bailey Heydra (Nevada) – 572.50*

Freshman Kate Miller of USC got the job done today at her first Zone Championships. Zone E was awarded eight automatic qualifying spots for this event, and divers from eight different schools hit the qualifying threshold. Because they hit the “B standard,” Stanford can potentially hit two more three-meter qualifiers if Moore and Burch automatically qualify on platform or one meter.

Men’s 1-meter (6 automatic qualifying spots)

1. Mortiz Wesemann (USC) – 736.80
2. Jack Ryan (Stanford) – 724.35
3. Gage Dubois (Arizona) – 695.60
4. Alejandro Velazquez (UNLV) – 690.75
5. Shangfei Wang (USC) – 681.10
6. Elias Petersen (Utah) – 673.60
7. Gael Jimenez (California Baptist) – 640.25*
8. Jesco Helling (Utah) – 632.55*
9. Misha Andriyuk (Stanford) – 618.45*
10. Mario Del Valle Jr (California Baptist) – 606.50*
11. Zyad Morsy (Denver) – 584.60*
12. Colin Agor (Arizona) – 577.10*

Southern California swept the Zone E diving events on Monday as Big Ten runner-up Moritz Wesemann, battled for the top spot against ACC champion Jack Ryan. The Trojans are looking set to rack up the diving points in a couple weeks as Shangfei Wang also qualified and will be a finalist threat in Federal Way.