Virginia Divers Head to NCAA Zone Championships

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Three Cavalier divers will represent Virginia this weekend at the NCAA Zone Championships, which runs Friday through Sunday at the University of Buffalo’s Alumni Arena Natatorium in Buffalo, N.Y.

Senior Briggy Imbriglia and freshman J.B. Kolod will represent the Virginia men while freshman Laura Gartrell will compete for the women. The event determines the NCAA national championship qualifiers from the region.

Competition begins at 12 p.m. Friday with the men’s 1-meter and 3-meter events. Likewise, at 1 p.m. Saturday, the men’s 3-meter and women’s 1-meter events will be contested. The meet concludes at 12 p.m. Sunday with the platform event.

“I am looking forward to this meet,” Virginia diving coach Rich MacDonald said. “The competition will challenge us but I think we can do something special. Briggy is coming off a great performance at the ACC Championships and I hope he can carry his momentum into this meet. I’m excited for him and expect him to have a great meet. JB and Laura are first years but they have been to plenty of big meets like this during the season. I believe that experience should help them this weekend.”

A total of 48 men’s divers from 27 schools and 10 conferences will compete while the women’s field will consist of 47 divers from 26 schools and 11 conferences.

Each of the five zone meets being held across the country this week receive a pre-determined allocation of NCAA qualifiers based upon several factors, including how divers representing each zone fared at the NCAA Championships the previous year.

The NCAA Women’s Championships will be held March 15-17 in Auburn, Ala, and the men’s meet will be contested March 22-24 in Federal Way, Wash.