Divers Set Sights on Zones

Two-Time All-American Abigail Knapton will lead a strong Nebraska contingent at the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas, March 11-13.

Knapton pulled in a runner-up finish at the 2018 Zone D Diving Championships in the platform diving event. The Omaha native is coming off of a strong performance at the 2019 Big Ten Championships. For the first time, Knapton placed top eight in all three of her events. On the platform board, she dove to fourth and fifth place on the platform and three-meter board, respectively. Knapton added a sixth-place finish on the one-meter board. Knapton also finished eighth place on the platform board and 22nd on the three-meter board at the 2018 NCAA Championships.

Nebraska's Grace Tiernon added a 21st-place finish on platform at the Big Ten Championships. The sophomore from Fishers, Ind. posted 207.60 points to earn 54th place on the one-meter board.

 

On the three-meter board, freshman Sara Troyer totaled 296.25 points to put her in 16th place. This qualified her for the consolation final where she placed 11th with 311.75 points at the 2019 conference championships. Troyer racked up 242.50 points on the one-meter board to place her at 33rd.

 

Bellevue native Jessica Warak posted an 18th-place finish on the platform board at the Big Ten Championships. The Husker freshman added a 19th-place finish on the one-meter board. Warak rallied in 276.70 points in preliminaries of the three-meter board to set her at 16th place. This qualified her for the consolation final where she scored 294.10 points to put her at 12th place.

 

The NCAA Zone Diving Championships serve as qualifiers for the NCAA Championships, with the top five female competitors from each event at their respective zone meet automatically advancing to the national championships. Additional place finishers in each event at each zone are eligible based on the number of student-athletes from that zone who finished in the top 16 in that event at the previous year's NCAA Championships.

Based on the 2018 NCAA performances, Zone D will advance 12 women on three-meter, and nine on the one-meter board and the platform, according to information provided by the University of Texas.

Zone D consists of divers from 18 NCAA Division I schools. A total of five NCAA Zone Diving Championships will be occurring March 11-16, including Zone A at University of Maryland, Zone B at Auburn University, Zone C at Indiana University and Zone E at the University of Arizona.

The 2019 NCAA Championships will be held in Austin, Texas, March 20-23.

Monday, March 11 - 5 p.m. (CT)
Three Meter
Knapton
Troyer
Warak

Tuesday, March 12 - 5 p.m. (CT)
One Meter
Knapton
Tiernon
Troyer
Warak

Wednesday, March 13 - 2 p.m. (CT)
Platform
Knapton
Tiernon
Warak