Gator Divers Prepare for NCAA Zone B Diving Championships
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 | Women's Swimming & Diving
With 12 swimmers and one alternate already invited to the 2010 Women's NCAA Championships, set to commence next week, and with the final list of invited men's swimmers scheduled to be released Wednesday evening by the NCAA, the University of Florida divers will look to make their mark at the Zone Diving Championship in hopes of joining the Gators' NCAA squads. The NCAA Zone B Diving Championships will take place March 12-14 at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta.
At the Zone B Championships, the Gator divers will compete for one of four automatic qualifying spots available on both the men's and women's side. The remainder of the spots for Zone B will be based on how divers from the zone finished in last year's NCAA championships. For 2010, 35 spots are available for the men's championships and 41 for the women.
Qualifying for NCAAs at the NCAA Zone meet is based on finishes in each of the three events. The winners of each of three events, one-meter, three-meter and platform, receives an automatic bid. If a diver wins both platform and three-meter, then the second place finishers on one- and three-meter receive a bid. Check www.GatorZone.com on Sunday for an updated status on the University of Florida divers, including results and NCAA qualifiers.
Florida looks forward to a successful zone meet after experiencing a stellar 2010 SEC Championship meet. Led by the 2010 SEC Women's Diving Coach of the Year, Donnie Craine, and the 2010 SEC Women's Diver of the Year, senior Kara Salamone (Cooper City, Fla.), the Gators hope to carry the momentum over to the postseason.
Salamone made history at the 2010 SEC meet, shattering a UF and SEC record in the platform competition to bring home UF's first-ever platform championship. Salamone also won the one-meter title for the first time since 2000, when Robyn Grimes claimed the one-meter springboard championship, and became the first Gator to win both of the events in the same SEC meet. Salamone also placed third in the three-meter competition and was the Gators' first SEC Women's Diver of the Year since 1986 when Megan Neyer won the award.
Salamone, the 2007-08 transfer from Texas, who has been with the Gators for two seasons now, owns all three Florida diving records, all set in 2010.
Florida's sole junior, diver Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.), was a finalist on the three-meter and platform boards at 2010 SECs, while also placing ninth in the one-meter competition.
On the men's side, sophomores Anthony Lewark (Davie, Fla.) and Colin Bell (Coral Springs, Fla.) represented the Gators at the SEC Championship meet. Both Lewark and Bell were top-eight finalists in the one-meter, three-meter and platform events.
Gator men's divers Grayson Patten (West Palm Beach, Fla.) and Jon Speed (Jupiter, Fla.) will also compete in Atlanta, while sophomore Kaylee Doback (Brandon, Fla.) will join Dodson and Salamone on the women's side.
2010 NCAA Zone B Diving Competition Schedule:
Friday, March 12, 2010
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Women's 1‐meter Prelims
1:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. Women's 1‐meter Finals
3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Men's 3‐meter Prelims GT Aquatic Center Dive Well
5:45 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. Men's 3‐meter Finals GT Aquatic Center Dive Well
Saturday, March 13, 2010
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Women's 3‐meter Prelims GT Aquatic Center Dive Well
1:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. Women's 3‐meter Finals GT Aquatic Center Dive Well
3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Men's 1‐meter Prelims GT Aquatic Center Dive Well
5:45 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. Men's 1‐meter Finals GT Aquatic Center Dive Well
Sunday, March 14, 2010
10:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Women's Platform Prelims GT Aquatic Center Dive Well
11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Women's Platform Finals GT Aquatic Center Dive Well
1:15 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. Men's Platform Prelims GT Aquatic Center Dive Well
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Men's Platform Finals GT Aquatic Center Dive Well
-UF-
