2023 NCAA ZONE D DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- March 7-9, 2023
- Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center – Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Host: University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- Qualifiers
- Preview
- Results
U.S. Olympian Hailey Hernandez led a group of four Texas Longhorn divers who earned NCAA qualification on the opening day of the Zone D Diving Championships in Minneapolis, as she won the women’s 3-meter event with a score of 788.30.
Hernandez was joined by teammate Bridget O’Neil, while LSU’s Chiara Pellacani gave Hernandez a run for the win and was just over four and a half points back in the event.
A total of nine qualifying spots were up for grabs in the women’s 3-meter, while there were seven available in the men’s event.
Women’s 3-Meter Qualifiers
- Hailey Hernandez (TEX), 733.10
- Chiara Pellacani (LSU), 728.50
- Bridget O’Neil (TEX), 713.45
- Viviana Del Angel (UMIN), 666.10
- Joslyn Oakley (TAM), 664.35
- Joy Zhu (UMIN), 658.30
- Montserrat Lavenant (LSU), 655.85
- Alyssa Clairmont (TAM), 650.65
- Helle Tuxen (LSU), 640.15
Texas’ Nicholas Harris comfortably topped the men’s field with a score of 758.80, and his teammate Brendan McCourt punched his NCAA ticket, while Texas A&M picked up three qualifiers.
Men’s 1-Meter Qualifiers
- Nicholas Harris (TEX), 758.80
- Adrian Abadia Garcia (LSU), 738.65
- Victor Povzner (TAM), 725.70
- David Ekdahl (TCU), 709.20
- Brendan McCourt (TEX), 691.70
- Rhett Hensley (TAM), 691.10
- Allen Bottego III (TAM), 688.55
NCAA QUALIFIERS
Women
| Count | Women Qualified | Team | Event(s) |
| 1 | Hailey Hernandez | Texas | 3m |
| 2 | Chiara Pellacani | LSU | 3m |
| 3 | Bridget O’Neil | Texas | 3m |
| 4 | Viviana Del Angel | Minnesota | 3m |
| 5 | Joslyn Oakley | Texas A&M | 3m |
| 6 | Joy Zhu | Minnesota | 3m |
| 7 | Montserrat Lavenant | LSU | 3m |
| 8 | Alyssa Clairmont | Texas A&M | 3m |
| 9 | Helle Tuxem | LSU | 3m |
Men
| Count | Men Qualified | Team | Event(s) |
| 1 | Nicholas Harris | Texas | 1m |
| 2 | Adrian Abadia Garcia | LSU | 1m |
| 3 | Victor Povzner | Texas A&M | 1m |
| 4 | David Ekhdal | TCU | 1m |
| 5 | Brendan McCourt | Texas | 1m |
| 6 | Rhett Hensley | Texas A&M | 1m |
| 7 | Allen Bottego III | Texas A&M | 1m |
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.
So after today, Texas has 3 men in both the 1m and 3m, if I’m understanding the rules correctly.
Shout out to Divemeets, great site for following diving once a year when the sports intersect.
Can anyone explain what’s going on when divers compete in the 1M and platform but not the 3M? Just springboard makes sense because the tower is high and scary, and only doing 3M and PL I guess makes sense if you’re a big unit that needs more airtime, but why would a diver be weak enough in only the 3M that they wouldn’t even bother to compete?
I agree that sounds weird. I’m a swimmer, but I guess they must have missed qualifying for Zones in the 3M. Or it is possible there are limitations to how many people you can send to Zones.
I don’t have a lot of context here, but there are a lot of mid-major conferences that do not sponsor platform diving. Maybe it is easier to qualify for platform Zones because it is not as “deep” of an event…?
There could be a multitude of reasons why this happens. Platform is really tough on the body hitting the water at high speeds from a great height. Some coaches opt to rest their platform divers a little more before their event, choosing to only compete one springboard event. One meter is easier on the body out of the two so that could be a reason why. Zones is a really tough and tiring meet, having to compete two lists back-to-back. It can easily add up to being 5+ hours of straight competing per day. If you’re tired diving platform it’s much easier to injure yourself.