BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — While the women’s NCAA field is set and the men’s is all but announced, collegiate divers across the country will have to earn their spots to head to the pinnacle of college diving at Zone Championships this week. Five Notre Dame divers — three women and two men – will compete in Bloomington beginning on Thursday as part of Zone C.
Starting on the women’s side, Allie Klein is the oldest of the group and made NCAAs last year. The Michigan graduate transfer and native of Australia has proven to be an excellent addition to head coach Mark Bradshaw’s crew. She will compete in the 1-meter and 3-meter events this week. Klein finished ninth in the 1-meter, 14th in the 3-meter and 20th in the platform at ACCs.
Sophomore Calie Brady made NCAAs last season, and she is poised to make a return trip in her second year. Brady will compete in the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform, meaning she will dive each day of the three-day meet. The Massachusetts native finaled in the 3-meter at ACCs, ultimately finishing eighth overall with scores of 300.05 and 275.20, respectively. Brady took 11th in the 3-meter as well.
Finally, freshman Grace Courtney had a bit of a breakout meet at ACCs a few weeks ago. Like Brady, Courtney will compete in all three events. The rookie out of Ohio finished sixth overall in the platform. She posted a 263.25 in prelims and a 258.75 in the finals. She also took eighth in the 1-meter, her best performance of 277.15 coming in the morning.
Both divers headed to Bloomington from the men’s team are freshmen. Daniel Knapp is in the running for ACC Rookie of the Year, and he was the only freshman to make the 3-meter final at ACCs (353.65 prelims/317.15 finals). Knapp finished eighth. He also made the 1-meter final and took fourth (364.65/361.55).
Ben Nguyen made the final in the platform at ACCs, and he will compete in all three diving events this week. The freshman from outside of Dallas finished eighth in Greensboro with a final platform score of 306.05. He scored in the top three for Notre Dame throughout the dual meet season as well.
Full Zone C Champs Schedule
Thursday, March 9 — 1 p.m.
Men’s 1M
Women’s 3M
*Top 9 men and women qualify*
Friday, March 10 — 1 p.m.
Men’s 3M
Women’s 1M
*Top 8 men and top 10 women qualify*
Saturday, March 11 — 11 a.m.
Men’s Platform
Women’s Platform
*Top 12 men and top 11 women qualify*