BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Five Indiana swimming and diving student-athletes punched their tickets to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on the first day of the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships on Thursday (March 9) inside the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.
Indiana posted the top three qualifiers on the men’s 1-meter springboard and the top two on the women’s 3-meter board to confidently secure their spots in the national meet.
MEN’S 1-METER
For the second straight year, Indiana earned a third of the automatic qualifications in the men’s 1-meter dive. Redshirt senior Andrew Capobianco (790.00) and sophomores Quinn Henninger (744.50) and Carson Tyler (720.60) earned the top spots to clinch their first bids to this year’s national competition. Last season, the trio qualified for all three events before combining for 64 points at the NCAA Championships.
Capobianco led the way with four dives over 70 points, nine dives over 60 and all 12 over 50. The 10-time All-American, two-time NCAA Champion and four-time NCAA medalist will advance to his fifth NCAA meet.
Henninger was consistent over his 12 dives, with only two scoring fewer than 60 points. Tyler, the Big Ten Champion in the event, never made a major error and finished just 1.5 points off his fellow sophomore.
Freshman Maxwell Weinrich also made it to the final in the men’s 1-meter but finished just outside of automatic qualifying position. Needing to finish ninth, he placed 11th with a 648.15. However, with the top-12 finish, Weinrich could still qualify in the 1-meter should he earn an automatic bid in another event this weekend.
WOMEN’S 3-METER
Big Ten 3-meter Champion and junior Anne Fowler (737.90) and sophomore Skyler Liu (698.45) qualified for the national meet on Thursday.
Fowler posted just one dive scoring fewer than 50 points and earned the top qualifying spot by a margin of almost 40 points. The junior was locked in during the final, posting scores of 61.60, 67.20, 58.50, 56.70, 62.00 and 63.00 to secure her bid. Her best dive of the day scored 73.50 points after she executed a 5152B for her final dive in the prelim.
Liu, who, like Fowler, qualified for all three A finals in her debut at Big Tens last month, only tallied two dives scoring less than 50 points. She stuck close to Fowler in the prelim, with dives of 58.50, 60.00, 60.45, 49.30, 64.50 and 61.50.
NCAA ZONE C CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS
MEN’S 1-METER
1. Andrew Capobianco – 790.00 (Automatic Qualifier)
2. Quinn Henninger – 744.50 (Automatic Qualifier)
3. Carson Tyler – 720.60 (Automatic Qualifier)
11. Maxwell Weinrich – 648.15
WOMEN’S 3-METER
1. Anne Fowler – 737.90 (Automatic Qualifier)
2. Skyler Liu – 698.45 (Automatic Qualifier)
15. Megan Carter – 541.65 (Finalist)
19. Morgan Casey – 266.55
27. Margaret Rogers – 258.50
UP NEXT
The men’s and women’s divers will swap boards Friday as they continue their qualification journey. Day two of the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships will kick off at 1 p.m. ET.
