The Gophers qualified seven divers for the 2016 NCAA Championships at the NCAA Diving Zones, which concluded Wednesday.
Freshman Alan LeBlang, junior Matt Barnard and seniors Dylan Zoe and Manny Pollard qualified for the men’s team, while juniors Yu Zhou and Lexi Tenenbaum and senior Jessica Ramberg qualified for the women’s team.
Zhou, Barnard and Zoe qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform dives. Ramberg, Tenenbaum and Pollard qualified in two events, and LeBlang qualified in platform diving.
“Competing at the NCAA Zones is a whole new competition compared to anything else during our season,” Ramberg said. “It’s a great feeling knowing you have made it to the final competition of the season.”
Zhou swept all three events, with 667.30 points on the 1-meter dive, 718.10 on the 3-meter dive and 597.65 on the platform.
Tenenbaum finished as the runner-up on the platform with a score of 586.70 points and took fourth on the 3-meter dive with a 654.55.
Barnard finished second on the 3-meter dive with 804.70 points, third on the platform with a 753.40 and placed seventh on the 1-meter event with a 682.75 to qualify in all three events.
“I’m pretty happy with my results this week. Going into nationals, it gives me a lot of confidence,” Barnard said. “Having four guys qualify is great for the team, as we have each other for support. It really shows that we are one of the top diving teams in the country.”
Zoe placed fourth in both the 3-meter and platform events with scores of 787.10 and 726.70 points, respectively.
