Texas Qualifies Two Male, Three Female Divers For NCAAs To Open Zone D Champs

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.

2022 NCAA ZONE DIVING

• Zone A: US Naval Academy / Annapolis, Md.
  • Monday, March 7 – Wednesday, March 9
  • Live Results
• Zone B: Georgia Tech Aquatic Center / Atlanta, Ga.
  • Sunday, March 6 – Wednesday, March 9
  • Live Results
• Zone C: Canham Natatorium / Ann Arbor, Mich.
  • Monday, March 7 – Wednesday, March 9
  • Live Results
• Zone D: Soderholm Aquatic Center / Madison, Wisc.
  • Monday, March 7 – Wednesday, March 9
  • Live Results
• Zone E: Wall Aquatic Center / Flagstaff, Ariz.
  • Monday, March 7 – Wednesday, March 9
  • Live Results

Texas had a great start to the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships on Monday at the University of Wisconsin, getting two men and three women qualified for the NCAA Championships.

Men’s 3-Meter

The competition started off with the men’s 3-meter, as LSU’s Juan Hernandez, who was third in the event at the 2021 NCAAs, placed first with a score of 903.00, leading Texas A&M’s Kurtis Mathews (811.65) and Tiger teammate Adrian Abadia Garcia (799.20).

For the Longhorns, who will be vying for a second consecutive NCAA title later this month, they had Noah Duperre and Manuel Borowski qualify to compete at nationals, placing sixth and seventh, respectively. Duperre scored six points in this event by placing 11th at NCAAs last season.

There were a total of eight qualifying spots on the line in the event, with Wisconsin’s Tazman Abramowicz, Minnesota’s Jake Butler and Mizzou’s Takuto Endo also punching their tickets.

Texas’ Jordan Windle, the NCAA runner-up last season, is ineligible to compete after receiving a U.S. Center for SafeSport suspension in December.

Women’s 1-Meter

Defending NCAA champion Sarah Bacon reigned supreme in the women’s 1-meter event, coming out on top for the Golden Gophers with a final score of 688.25.

There were 10 qualifying spots up for grabs in this event, and the Texas Longhorns qualified three women for NCAAs, with sophomore Bridget O’Neil, freshman Hailey Hernandez and senior Paola Pineda placing second, third and fifth, respectively. Pineda was notably fifth in this event at NCAAs last season.

QUALIFIERS LIST

Reimbursed divers are in bold, with invited-but-not-reimbursed divers in non-bold. You can read more about the distinction below.

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.