University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
NCAA Zone D Diving Championships
8 Divers Advance to NCAA Championships
3/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
IOWA CITY - The NCAA Zone D Diving Championships wrapped tonight at the University of Iowa's Campus Recreation and Wellness Natatorium. Minnesota's divers participated in a three-day competition featuring both one-meter and three-meter springboard as well as platform diving. The meet was highlighted by eight Gophers advancing to their respective NCAA Championships later this month. With a change in rules at this year's Zones, both four men and four women have qualified. In contrast, last year the Gophers sent three divers total (Matt Barnard, Maggie Keefer, Jessica Ramberg). This increase shows great development led by head diving coach Wenbo Chen and volunteer diving coach John Dailey.
*Specifics for qualifying in Zone D include placing in the top eight on one-meter, top ten on three-meter and top nine on platform for women, while men needed a top eight finish on one-meter, top six on three-meter and top seven on platform. Also, If a diver qualified in one event and finished in the top twelve of another, they are given a B-cut and are allowed to compete in that event at the NCAA Championships as well.
Who's In
Advancing to the 2015 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships in Greensboro, N.C. from March 19-21:
Sr. Katy Etterman, 3-meter, platform
So. Lexi Tenenbaum, 3-meter, platform
So. Jessica Ramberg, 1-meter
So. Yu Zhou, 1-meter, 3-meter, platform
Advancing to the 2015 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships in Iowa City, Iowa from March 26-28:
So. Matt Barnard, 1-meter (B-cut), 3-meter, platform (B-cut)
Sr. Erik Larsen, 3-meter (B-cut), platform
Jr. Manny Pollard, 1-meter, 3-meter, platform
Jr. Dylan Zoe, 1-meter (B-cut), 3-meter, platform (B-cut)
Day One Recap, Men's 1-meter, Women's 3-meter
The first day of NCAA Zone D Diving Championships kicked off with men's one-meter and women's three-meter competition. Day one resulted in four Gophers punching their tickets to the NCAA Championships. Securing their spots on day one included Manny Pollard, Lexi Tenenbaum, Yu Zhou and Katy Etterman.
Manny Pollard finished fifth with a score of 740.15 points for an A-cut on the men's one-meter. Sophomore Matt Barnard finished ninth after totaling 682.10 points. Dylan Zoe placed twelfth with a 659.50. Erik Larsen (623.05) and Nick Rodriguez (603.60) finished 16th and 17th consecutively.
During the women's three-meter competition, Lexi Tenenbaum finished seventh with a score of 648.65. Teammates Yu Zhou (646.95) and Katy Etterman (637.45) followed, taking the ninth and tenth places. Jessica Ramberg placed 15th during the Championship finals on the three-meter after totaling 618.00 points. Freshman Elizabeth Etterman placed 44th in prelims with a score of 211.05.
Day Two Recap, Women's 1-meter, Men's 3-meter
Another three Gophers qualified on day two of competition during the women's one-meter and men's three-meter. Jessica Ramberg became the fourth women's diver to advance to the Women's NCAA Championships in North Carolina, while Matt Barnard and Dylan Zoe placed high enough to move on to the Men's NCAA Championships in Iowa.
On the women's one-meter, Yu Zhou took home the top-ranking after totaling 645.60 points. Zhou was the Big Ten Champion in this event, as well as the three-meter last month. Jessica Ramberg finished seventh with a 600.05. Senior Katy Etterman placed 14th with a total of 559.80 points. During prelims, Lexi Tenenbaum finished 28th with a score of 246.60. Elizabeth Etterman placed 46th during prelims with a total of 210.40 points.
Matt Barnard finished with the highest ranking for the Gophers in the men's three-meter competition. Barnard finished in fifth place with 807.05 points to move on to the NCAA Championships. Dylan Zoe also secured his advancement on day two after finishing sixth with a 788.50. Teammate and fellow junior Manny Pollard followed Zoe for sixth place after totaling 770.90 points. Erik Larsen finished eleventh for a B-cut with 690.35 points. During prelims, Nick Rodriguez took 21st with a score of 312.85.
Day Three Recap, Women's and Men's Platform
The final day of competition concluded with platform diving for both the men's and women's divers. Senior Erik Larsen became the eighth diver to advance to the NCAA Championships, while Katy Etterman, Lexi Tenenbaum, Yu Zhou, Matt Barnard, Manny Pollard and Dylan Zoe picked up scores that placed them high enough to allow them to compete in this event as well.
Sophomore Yu Zhou picked up her second first-place finish at Zones on the women's platform, finishing with a score of 699.80. Lexi Tenenbaum finished eighth with a score of 565.90, while senior Katy Etterman picked up eighth with a total of 541.80 points. Jessica Ramberg and Elizabeth Etterman didn't compete in platform diving.
Manny Pollard led the way for the Gophers on the men's platform. Pollard finished fifth with a score of 721.50, and was the only male diver from Minnesota to advance to the NCAA Championships in all three events with no B-cuts. Senior Erik Larsen advanced to the NCAA Championships with his seventh-place finish (707.55 points). Teammates Matt Barnard (703.15) and Dylan Zoe (692.30) followed for eighth and ninth place respectively. Nick Rodriguez competed in platform finals, finishing in 15th place with a total of 536.85 points.
Note: scores during the Zone Championships are accumulated from both preliminary and final rounds.
Players Mentioned
