The Indiana University men’s and women’s diving teams had a great first day at the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships on Thursday afternoon in Columbus, Ohio.
In the women’s 1-meter, Jessica Parratto qualified for the Hoosiers, while in the men’s 3-meter dive, Michael Hixon, James Connor and Andrew Capobianco all punched their tickets in the event to the NCAA Championships.
Only the top-eight finishers in the women’s 1-meter and top-10 finishers in the men’s 3-meter on Thursday earned an auto-bid to the event at NCAA Championships.
Once a diver posts an auto-qualifying finish in an event, he or she only has to be among the top 12 to earn the NCAA Championships berth in the other events.
Parratto was dominant in the 1-meter dive for IU, totaling a score of 629.15, beating the field by more than 36 points. The redshirt junior was also the only diver in the event to score over 600 points.
Much like Parratto in the 1-meter, the Hoosiers were outstanding in the men’s 3-meter, with Hixon and Connor leading the way. Hixon was terrific, winning with an overall score of 859.70. Connor placed second, recording a total score of 833.20. The duo were the only two divers to net over 800 points.
Capobianco entered the final of the 3-meter dive in 13th place, but nailed his set in the final to move up five places and finish eighth overall with a total of 712.30.
The NCAA Zone C Diving Championships will continue on Friday with the women’s 3-meter and the men’s 1-meter dives. The action gets underway at 1:00 p.m. ET in Columbus, Ohio.
