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.
2021 NCAA Zone Diving
- Zone A: Greensboro Aquatic Center / Greensboro, NC
- Thursday, March 11 – Saturday, March 13
- Live Results
- Zone B: Greensboro Aquatic Center / Greensboro, NC
- Sunday, March 7 – Tuesday, March 9
- Live Results
- Zone C: University of Kentucky / Lexington, KY
- Sunday, March 7 – Tuesday, March 9
- Live Results
- Zone D: University of Kentucky / Lexington, KY
- Thursday, March 11 – Saturday, March 13
- Live Results
- Zone E: Northern Arizona University / Flagstaff, AZ
- Monday, March 8 – Wednesday, March 10
- Live Results
Andrew Capobianco won his second event and the Indiana men added a second NCAA-qualifying diver on the final day of Zone Cs.
Capobianco won 1-meter today to go with his 3-meter win from Sunday. He was also 4th on platform and looks to be one of the highest-scoring individual divers nationally at the NCAA meet later this month.
His teammate Cole VanDevender finished second on 1-meter to book an NCAA invite on the final day of competition. VanDevender will be eligible to compete on all three boards as he was in the top 12 on the other boards, but just low enough to not earn an outright invite until today.
Ohio State, Purdue and Kentucky lead the zone on the men’s side with three qualifiers apiece.
Purdue went 1-2 on women’s platform, with Maycey Vieta and Maggie Merriman both earning new NCAA invites. Both are platform specialists who will compete on that board only at NCAAs.
That was a theme on the women’s side, with a number of platform specialists qualifying in this event only. That included a second diver for Ohio State (Ciara McGing) and a diver for Louisville (Elise Praasterink). Northwestern added two divers late, with Jaye Patrick and Leah Parsons taking two of the final three qualifying spots in this event.
One major note for Northwestern: former Big Ten champ Markie Hopkins missed the cut. Hopkins was the Big Ten champ on platform as a freshman in 2020 and looked like a major NCAA scoring threat. But she missed the A final at Big Tens this year, and finished just 11th in the zone, missing the NCAA invite spot by about three points.
Current Qualifiers
Reimbursed divers are in bold, with invited-but-not-reimbursed divers in non-bold. You can read more about the distinction below.
| Men | |
| Diver | Events |
| Andrew Capobianco, Indiana | 1m, 3m, Pl |
| Jacob Siler, Ohio State | 1m, 3m, Pl |
| Jacob Fielding, Ohio State | 1m, 3m, Pl |
| Cole VanDevender, Indiana | 1m, 3m, Pl |
| Benjamin Bramley, Purdue | Pl |
| Danny Zhang, Kentucky | 1m, 3m, Pl |
| Joseph Canova, Ohio State | 1m, 3m |
| Greg Duncan, Purdue | 1m, 3m |
| Brandon Loschiavo, Purdue | 3m, Pl |
| Lyle Yost, Ohio State | 1m, 3m, Pl |
| Samuel Duncan, Kentucky | 1m |
| Chase Lane, Kentucky | 1m, Pl |
| Kivanc Gur, Louisville | Pl |
| Ross Todd, Michigan | 3m, Pl |
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.
Well Done Hoosiers!! Solid 3 days