2024 NCAA ZONE B CHAMPIONSHIPS
- March 10-13, 2024
- Gabrielsen Natatorium — Athens, Georgia
- Results
- Qualifying Process
The final piece of the NCAA Championship qualification puzzle is the Zone Diving Championships, which are running from five sites this week across the country.
The Zone B Championships wrapped up on Wednesday from the University of Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, finalizing the divers who have punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships later this month.
Of course, teams near or at the roster limit can scratch divers if they choose to, though that only applies to a few select teams—one of which happens to have been competing at Zone B—but in the vast majority of cases, qualifying at their respective Zone competition locks in a diver’s NCAA spot.
Note that divers only count as a half a participant in terms of the 18-participant roster cap.
Simplified Qualifying Process:
- The top five female and top four male divers from each event at their respective zone championship automatically qualify for NCAAs.
- Each zone then earns an additional number of qualifying spots in each event based on how it performed at last season’s NCAAs.
- Divers who qualify in one event can also compete in other event(s) at NCAAs provided they finished in the top 12 at their respective Zone meet.
ZONE B ALLOCATIONS
| 1-Meter | 3-Meter | Platform | |
| Women | 10 | 8 | 7 |
| Men | 7 | 7 | 10 |
WOMEN’S ZONE B RECAP
UNC’s Aranza Vazquez Montano, the reigning NCAA champion in the women’s 1-meter and 3-meter events, won both at Zone B to solidify her spot at nationals, and also placed 7th on platform to qualify for all three events.
The Florida women, who will be fighting for a top finish at NCAAs, qualified Camyla Monroy and Carina Lumia, with Monroy having placed in the top three of all three events and Lumia getting the job done on 1-meter and adding 3-meter after placing in the top 12.
Vazquez Montano and Monroy were the only two divers to qualify in every event, while 12 of the 13 other qualifiers earned a berth in two.
Women’s Zone B Qualifiers – By Event
| Women’s 1-Meter | Women’s 3-Meter | Platform | |
| 1 | Aranza Vazquez Montano, UNC | Aranza Vazquez Montano, UNC | Aliyah Watson, Duke |
| 2 | Camyla Monroy, Florida | Samantha Vear, FSU | Camyla Monroy, Florida |
| 3 | Samantha Vear, FSU | Camyla Monroy, Florida | Bayleigh Cranford, NC State |
| 4 | Margo O’Meara, Duke | Margo O’Meara, Duke | Tanesha Lucoe, Tennessee |
| 5 | Alicia Mora, FAU | Aliyah Watson, Duke | Anna Bradescu, Georgia Tech |
| 6 | Meghan Wenzel, Georgia | Bayleigh Cranford, NC State | Abigail Farrar, Auburn |
| 7 | Carina Lumia, Florida | Lynae Shorter, Tennessee | Aranza Vazquez Montano, UNC |
| 8 | Paige Burrell, FIU | Paige Burrell, FIU | |
| 9 | Lynae Shorter, Tennessee | ||
| 10 | Ashlynn Sullivan, Auburn |
Women’s Zone B Qualifiers – Full List
| NCAA Qualifiers | Event(s) | |
| 1 | Aranza Vazquez Montano, UNC | 1m, 3m, Platform |
| 2 | Camyla Monroy, Florida | 1m, 3m, Platform |
| 3 | Samantha Vear, FSU | 1m, 3m |
| 4 | Margo O’Meara, Duke | 1m, 3m |
| 5 | Alicia Mora, FAU | 1m, 3m* |
| 6 | Meghan Wenzel, Georgia | 1m, 3m* |
| 7 | Carina Lumia, Florida | 1m, 3m* |
| 8 | Paige Burrell, FIU | 1m, 3m |
| 9 | Lynae Shorter, Tennessee | 1m, 3m |
| 10 | Ashlynn Sullivan, Auburn | 1m, Platform* |
| 11 | Aliyah Watson, Duke | 3m, Platform |
| 12 | Bayleigh Cranford, NC State | 3m, Platform |
| 13 | Tanesha Lucoe, Tennessee | Platform, 3m* |
| 14 | Anna Bradescu, Georgia Tech | Platform, 1m* |
| 15 | Abigail Farrar, Auburn | Platform |
*Events in which the diver didn’t finish in a designated spot but qualified by virtue of a top-12 finish.
MEN’S ZONE B RECAP
Despite the presence of two First Team All-American divers from last season, Bryden Hattie and Mohamed Farouk, two other names earned victories on the men’s side during the Zone B competition.
On 1-meter, Florida’s Peyton Donald paced Farouk and Hattie in the top three, and on 3-meter, it was Georgia Tech freshman Max Fowler booking the win to qualify for his first NCAAs (he qualified on 1-meter the day prior).
Tennessee’s Hattie, who was 2nd on platform and 6th on 3-meter at the 2023 NCAAs, won the platform event and qualified in the other two events.
Farouk, who represents Miami (FL) and was 8th on platform last year, was the runner-up in all three events.
Joining Hattie and Farouk in qualifying in all three events was Hattie’s teammate at Tennessee Nick Stone, a sophomore who was a Honorable Mention All-American on platform as a freshman. Stone was 4th on platform, 7th on 1-meter and added the 3-meter to his schedule with a top-12 finish.
In addition to Donald, the Florida men also qualified Conor Gesing, Anton Svirskyi and Skip Donald for NCAAs. With the Gators qualifying 16 swimmers and divers counting as half, Florida won’t have to scratch anyone for the meet.
NC State, which had to scratch one swimmer to get under the 18-participant roster cap, qualified one diver, Renato Calderaro, so the Wolfpack will have to drop another swimmer if Calderaro is to be in action at NCAAs.
Men’s Zone B Qualifiers – By Event
| Men’s 1-Meter | Men’s 3-Meter | Platform | |
| 1 | Peyton Donald, Florida | Max Fowler, Georgia Tech | Bryden Hattie, Tennessee |
| 2 | Mohamed Farouk, Miami (FL) | Mohamed Farouk, Miami (FL) | Mohamed Farouk, Miami (FL) |
| 3 | Bryden Hattie, Tennessee | Alexander Hart, UNC | Anton Svirskyi, Florida |
| 4 | Conor Gesing, Florida | Brodie Scapens, Miami (FL) | Nick Stone, Tennessee |
| 5 | Max Fowler, Georgia Tech | Bryden Hattie, Tennessee | Jesco Helling, FSU |
| 6 | Brodie Scapens, Miami (FL) | Renato Calderaro, NC State | Maxwell Spencer, South Carolina |
| 7 | Nick Stone, Tennessee | David Vargas, FSU | Darwin Nolasco, FSU |
| 8 | Skip Donald, Florida | ||
| 9 | Allen Mann, Georgia | ||
| 10 | Jacob Reaser, Tennessee |
Men’s Zone B Qualifiers – Full List
| NCAA Qualifiers | Event(s) | |
| 1 | Peyton Donald, Florida | 1m, 3m* |
| 2 | Mohamed Farouk, Miami (FL) | 1m, 3m, Platform |
| 3 | Bryden Hattie, Tennessee | 1m, 3m, Platform |
| 4 | Conor Gesing, Florida | 1m |
| 5 | Max Fowler, Georgia Tech | 1m, 3m |
| 6 | Brodie Scapens, Miami (FL) | 1m, 3m |
| 7 | Nick Stone, Tennessee | 1m, Platform, 3m* |
| 8 | Alexander Hart, UNC | 3m |
| 9 | Renato Calderaro, NC State | 3m, 1m* |
| 10 | David Vargas, FSU | 3m, Platform* |
| 11 | Anton Svirskyi, Florida | Platform, 1m* |
| 12 | Jesco Helling, FSU | Platform |
| 13 | Maxwell Spencer, South Carolina | Platform |
| 14 | Darwin Nolasco, FSU | Platform, 1m* |
| 15 | Skip Donald, Florida | Platform, 3m* |
| 16 | Allen Mann, Georgia | Platform |
| 17 | Jacob Reaser, Tennessee | Platform |
*Events in which the diver didn’t finish in a designated spot but qualified by virtue of a top-12 finish.
A little easier to qualify this year with Miami’s top divers training for the Olympics but still a good job.
UF is only going to continue to get better dive recruits from here on out. They got their first Worlds medal with Maha Amer just a few months ago, got the high point winners in both men’s and women’s diving at SECs from freshmen, and got a huge portion of their team qualified for NCs. Out of 11 total team members, 6 of them qualified for NCs in one of the toughest zones in the country. That’s massive. Bryan and Laurent are doing it right, and they’re only going to get better.
Calling this one of the toughest Zones is a bit of a stretch as a blanket statement. Zone C is by far the toughest for both Men & Women. Zone D & E both are as tough as Zone B depending on the event.
When you look at how many total qualifying spots each zone has, where those rank vs. the other Zones, how each zone does historically, Zone B is middle of the pack. Above Zone A in toughness for sure, but C, D, & E have all historically performed better and had more depth and NCAAs.
Perhaps consider moving the diving to NCAA Gymnastics and Diving or NCAA Bowling and Diving or NCAA Diving and Equestrian.