University of Minnesota Athletics
Tuesday, March 8
Madison, Wis.
11:00 AM
University of Minnesota
at
NCAA Zone D Diving Championships
Players Mentioned
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Diving
/ Women's Swimming & Diving
Photo by: Dan Sanger
Gopher Trio Secures Three More Spots at NCAAs
3/8/2022 3:39:00 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving
MINNEAPOLIS – After three Minnesota divers qualified for the NCAA Championships on the opening day of the Zone D Diving Championships Monday in Madison, Wis., the trio did it again on Tuesday.
Seniors Sarah Bacon and Joy Zhu both punched their tickets on the 3-meter, while junior Jake Butler did the same for the men on the 1-meter.
The defending NCAA champion in the event, Bacon earned a chance to repeat as she took first place Tuesday. Bacon was fifth through the prelims after posting a score of 347.95, though she was only 12.25 points out of first place. Bacon then turned it on in the finals, finishing with a score of 749.50, bettering the field by 22 points. Of the six rounds in the finals, she had the highest score in four of them, while in the other two she was second and seventh, respectively. Bacon averaged 66.93 on her dives in the finals, including a finals-best 73.50 on her final attempt, while only two other competitors were above 60.
Zhu finished sixth with a score of 668.10. Sixth through prelims following a six-dive total of 343.05, Zhu maintained her spot in the final standings thanks to a performance of 325.05. Needing to finish in the top 11 to advance to the NCAA Championships, Zhu slipped to eighth through round three of the finals, but responded with a 72.00 on her fourth dive, the highest score of the round, to secure a more comfortable position among the field. A 66.00 on her last dive provided the exclamation mark.
Butler claimed his spot with an eighth-place finish, totaling 700.80 points. He was fifth through prelims following a 364.75 and needed to finish in the top 10 to advance. Butler recorded a score of 336.05 in the finals to move on to the NCAAs. The highlight of his finals came on his fifth dive when he tallied a 69.75, the third best dive in the round.
Also in action Tuesday were sophomores Megan Phillip, Susanna Fish and Av Osero. Phillip finished 20th in the prelims with a total of 286.80, missing out on a spot in the finals by two places and less than three points. Fish placed 26th in the prelims with a score of 269.70, while Osero was 31st with a 258.35.
The top 18 in each prelim advanced to the finals. The top five female and top four male divers from each event automatically earned a spot at the NCAA championships. Additional place finishers in each event at each zone are eligible based on the number of student-athletes from that zone who finished in the top 16 in that event at last year's NCAA championships. For Zone D, that means 11 women qualified on the 3-meter, while the men had 10 qualify on the 3-meter.
Action at the Zone Diving Championships concludes Wednesday as both the men and women will take to the platform. The women are set to start with prelims at 11 a.m. and the finals at approximately 12:45 p.m. The men are scheduled to begin prelims at 3:15 p.m. with finals at approximately 5 p.m. Fish, Osero and Zhu will be joined by freshman Kate LaMonica on the women's side, while Butler will compete for the men.
Seniors Sarah Bacon and Joy Zhu both punched their tickets on the 3-meter, while junior Jake Butler did the same for the men on the 1-meter.
The defending NCAA champion in the event, Bacon earned a chance to repeat as she took first place Tuesday. Bacon was fifth through the prelims after posting a score of 347.95, though she was only 12.25 points out of first place. Bacon then turned it on in the finals, finishing with a score of 749.50, bettering the field by 22 points. Of the six rounds in the finals, she had the highest score in four of them, while in the other two she was second and seventh, respectively. Bacon averaged 66.93 on her dives in the finals, including a finals-best 73.50 on her final attempt, while only two other competitors were above 60.
Zhu finished sixth with a score of 668.10. Sixth through prelims following a six-dive total of 343.05, Zhu maintained her spot in the final standings thanks to a performance of 325.05. Needing to finish in the top 11 to advance to the NCAA Championships, Zhu slipped to eighth through round three of the finals, but responded with a 72.00 on her fourth dive, the highest score of the round, to secure a more comfortable position among the field. A 66.00 on her last dive provided the exclamation mark.
Butler claimed his spot with an eighth-place finish, totaling 700.80 points. He was fifth through prelims following a 364.75 and needed to finish in the top 10 to advance. Butler recorded a score of 336.05 in the finals to move on to the NCAAs. The highlight of his finals came on his fifth dive when he tallied a 69.75, the third best dive in the round.
Also in action Tuesday were sophomores Megan Phillip, Susanna Fish and Av Osero. Phillip finished 20th in the prelims with a total of 286.80, missing out on a spot in the finals by two places and less than three points. Fish placed 26th in the prelims with a score of 269.70, while Osero was 31st with a 258.35.
The top 18 in each prelim advanced to the finals. The top five female and top four male divers from each event automatically earned a spot at the NCAA championships. Additional place finishers in each event at each zone are eligible based on the number of student-athletes from that zone who finished in the top 16 in that event at last year's NCAA championships. For Zone D, that means 11 women qualified on the 3-meter, while the men had 10 qualify on the 3-meter.
Action at the Zone Diving Championships concludes Wednesday as both the men and women will take to the platform. The women are set to start with prelims at 11 a.m. and the finals at approximately 12:45 p.m. The men are scheduled to begin prelims at 3:15 p.m. with finals at approximately 5 p.m. Fish, Osero and Zhu will be joined by freshman Kate LaMonica on the women's side, while Butler will compete for the men.
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