Lexington, Ky. ? The University of Kentucky welcomes some of the nation?s finest divers to Lexington when it hosts the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships beginning Friday and lasting through Sunday at the Lancaster Aquatic Center. The Zone B Diving Championships are the equivalent to the first round of the NCAA Championships in basketball in which athletes have one chance to advance to the men?s and women?s NCAA Championships in Atlanta, Ga., (Mar. 23-25) and Athens, Ga (Mar. 16-18). Divers have reached the Zones based on qualifying scores accomplished during dual-meets this season.
On the line at this weekend?s Zone Diving Championships are 22 spots in the NCAA Championships (nine women and 13 men). The 22 spots were determined by the success of last year?s divers from Zone B at the NCAA Championships. There are fives zones all together in action this weekend with Zone B consisting mainly of teams from the Southeastern Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Other teams with participants include Louisville, UNC-Wilmington, Florida Atlantic, Florida International and East Carolina.
The Zone B Diving Championships will mark the first competition for Kentucky?s diving squads since the SEC Championships in February. At the SEC Championships, junior Taryn Ignacio became the first lady Wildcat diver to repeat as champion when she claimed victory on the platform. Ignacio won both the platform and 1-meter diving events at the 2005 SEC Championships.
The Cats had unprecedented success at this season?s SEC Championships in the platform event placing in the top-3 spots. Senior Jessica Thompson finished as the runner up to Ignacio and junior Joey Brown finished right behind Thompson in third place.
The Cats? success in February was not limited to the platform. Kentucky had four divers finish in the top-6 in the 1-meter diving event and four performers place in the top-7 in the 3-meter diving event.
All five lady Wildcat divers will be in action this weekend including 2004 SEC platform champion Kari Retrum and senior Jillian Becker who scored a career-best 335.78 in the 3-meter to the win the event over teammates Ignacio and Thompson during this season’s dual meet against Cincinnati.
The Zone B Diving Championships will also mark the first NCAA Championship competition for freshmen Daniel Cuilla and Justin Smith on the men?s side.
The meet is scheduled to begin at noon EST on Friday with the men?s 1-meter and the women?s 3-meter going on simultaneously. Fans can check ukathletics.com for live stats and a complete recap following the match?s conclusion.
