ANNAPOLIS, Md. (March 10, 2019) – Senior
Rachel Byrne, sophomore
Lauren Boone and freshman
Jenna Douglass will represent Rutgers diving at the 2019 NCAA Zone A Championships, hosted by the United States Naval Academy inside the Lejeune Hall from Monday, March 11 through Wednesday, March 13.
Boone and Byrne have each posted qualifying scores in all three diving events and will attempt to qualify for the NCAA Championships on 1-meter, 3-meter and platform. Douglass will compete in the 1-meter event in her first NCAA Zone Championships.
In each year of his 26 seasons at the helm of Rutgers diving,
Frederick Woodruff has sent a diver to the zone championship meet. A Scarlet Knight diver has moved on to the NCAA Championships in each of the last six years.
"We're excited to have three divers competing at Navy this week," Woodruff said. "Our young athletes learned a lot at the Big Ten Championships and are in a great position to improve at zones. Rachel is a veteran and a two-time NCAA qualifier, so we'll look for another strong performance. The competition has improved in the platform event, so we'll need strong performances to make the show, and I think we're ready for that."
THE SLATE
| Monday, March 11 |
12 p.m. |
3-meter diving |
| Tuesday, March 12 |
12 p.m. |
1-meter diving |
| Wednesday, March 13 |
1 p.m. |
Platform diving |
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HOW THEY GOT HERE
The qualified divers surpassed the requisite scores of 265 on 1-meter, 280 on 3-meter and 225 on platform in any six-dive (1- and 3-meter) or five-dive (platform) list with standard degree of difficulty during the 2018-19 season.
Byrne posted multiple qualifying scores throughout her senior season, highlighted by a career-high 316.30 in the 3-meter preliminary round at the 2019 Big Ten Championships. The mark qualified Byrne for the championship finals, where she placed eighth for her first career podium finish at the conference championships. On the 1-meter boards, Byrne won the event during a tri-meet with Princeton and Villanova with a season-best mark of 287.25. Byrne placed 17th in the Big Ten in platform diving at the conference championships with a zone qualifying score of 245.00.
Boone was runner-up at the Rutgers Invitational on 3-meter with her season's best score of 283.35. She qualified for the zone championships on 1-meter in her very first meet with a 259.75 mark at the Justin Jennings Memorial Invitational at Colgate.
Douglass qualified for her first zone championships with a score of 273.45 in the 1-meter competition at the Rutgers Invitational, where she scored a runner-up finish in the event. Douglass was just two points away from a 3-meter qualifying score at the Rutgers Invitational.
THE ROAD TO AUSTIN
The Top 18 scores from prelims will move on to the finals each day. Scores on all dives performed by each diver in the prelims and the finals will be used to determine finals placing.
The Top 5 on 3-meter and platform, and Top 6 on 1-meter will be invited to the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas from March 20-23.
DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY
The Scarlet Knights have selected six dives to perform during the preliminary round of the meet on 1- and 3-meter, and five dives on platform. Here's the breakdown for each event.
1-METER
3-METER
PLATFORM
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