The Irish traveled to West Lafayette, Ind., to compete in the Zone C Diving qualifying meet on Thursday and Friday. While no Notre Dame divers advanced to the finals, the weekend marked the end of a successful season.
"Overall, NCAA Zones was a good meet to cap off a long season that began in September," senior Ryan Koter said.
Sophomore Michael Kreft led the way with a pair of top-20 finishes from the 1-meter and 3-meter boards. Kreft's leadership set the stage for growth in future seasons.
The meet provided an opportunity to advance to the NCAA Diving championships. Unlike swimming, in which athletes can advance based on previous times, scores from the regular season do not permit divers to advance.
Competition consisted of divers from 25 schools, with only nine spots for automatic qualifiers. On the 1-meter, the top-three finishers advanced. The top four from the 3-meter, and the top two from the platform earned a qualifying spot.
"Although there was a large amount of competition from divers at Big Ten schools, there were definitely positives about all of the Irish divers' performances despite some disappointment in final placement in the meet," Koter said. "Most people were happier with their Big East meets, but we still had a number of good dives, notably from Kreft on the 3-meter."
The match began with preliminaries. On the springboards, the top-18 divers progressed to the finals, while only 12 went from the platform.
Kreft's 283.40 points on the 1-meter put him in 20th place, with Koter taking the second Irish spot in 25th place with 276.05 points. Sophomore Ted Wagner followed next, coming in 26th with 274.50 points.
On the 3-meter, Kreft's 329.35 points earned him 20th place. Sophomore Nick Nemetz came in 31st with 284.10 points and Koter took the third Irish place in 40th with 266.20 points.
While no divers advanced, nine swimmers will compete in the NCAA championships beginning March 28 at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis.
Contact Megan Finneran at mfinnera@nd.edu
