Six Hoos Headed to NCAA Zone Diving Championships

March 5, 2017

Charlottesville, Va. – Live Results

Charlottesville, Va. ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” Six members of the Virginia diving teams will compete at the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships this week. The three-day event takes place at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center in Christiansburg, Va. Diving gets underway at noon on Monday and Tuesday and at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

Representing the Virginia men’s team will be freshmen Samson Miller (Fairfax, Va.) and Bryce Shelton (Vienna, Va.) while the Cavalier women’s team is sending freshman Sydney Dusel (Naperville, Ill.), sophomores Kirsten Parkinson (Stamford, Conn.) and Kylie Towbin (New Canaan, Conn.) and junior Corey Johnson (Ambler, Pa.).

All six divers will compete in all three categories ÃÆ’¢Ãƒ¢’¬” 1-meter, 3-meter and platform. The Zone A field includes a total of 108 participants.

Towbin and Johnson are looking to return to the NCAA Championships after qualifying at last year’s Zone competition.

Towbin became the first UVA female freshman to qualify for the NCAA Championships when she finished third on the platform at the Zone Championships last year. She placed seventh in both the 1-meter (255.00) and 3-meter (280.80) competitions at this year’s ACC Championships and was fifth on the platform (246.65).

Last year Johnson placed fourth on the platform and 11th on the 3-meter at the NCAA Zone Diving Championships. She went on to finish 33rd on the platform at the NCAA Championships and was 40th on the 3-meter at the NCAAs. Parkinson reached the finals of the 3-meter at last year’s Zone competition.

Dusel set the UVA 1-meter record this year at 319.73 points. All four female competitors at the Zone Championships compiled top-seven all-time marks at UVA this year on the 1-meter board.

Shelton had an impressive debut at UVA. He enters the Zone Diving with top-five all-time marks at UVA in all three events. He placed fourth on the platform at this year’s ACC Championships.

Monday’s competition features the women’s 3-meter and men’s 1-meter events. There are 61 divers in the women’s 3-meter field. The top 18 will advance from the trials to the finals. The men’s 1-meter competition includes 44 divers with 18 advancing to the finals.

Tuesday’s schedule finds the women competing on the 1-meter board while the men move to the 3-meter stage. The women’s field features 61 divers with 18 advancing to the finals while the men’s competition includes 46 competitors and 18 reach the finals.

Wednesday’s platform diving will see 12 divers reach the finals. The women’s trials include 22 participants while the men’s field is 23 divers.

For Zone A, the top five women’s finishers in the 1-meter, top seven in the 3-meter and top six in the platform qualify for the NCAA Championships. On the men’s side, the top six in the 1-meter, top five in the 3-meter and top four on the platform may advance to nationals.

Both the women’s and men’s NCAA Championships will be held in Indianapolis. The women’s meet runs March 15-18, while the men’s meet will be contested March 22-25.