March 4, 2007
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Three Notre Dame male divers completed their seasons at the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships on Saturday in the Canham Natatorium. Sophomore Michael Bulfin (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) placed fifth off the three-meter board, while his junior teammates Sam Stoner (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso) and Steven Crowe (Brockport, N.Y./Brockport) finished 11th and 18th, respectively.
Bulfin, who qualified for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships last season, fell short of returning to the meet this season. He totaled 339.90 points during the three-meter prelims, which placed him second heading into the finals. He registered 312.20 in the afternoon’s finals to finish with 652.10 points and in fifth place. His fourth-place finish off the three-meter in 2006 is what gave him a berth into the national meet. He totaled 634.40 points off the three-meter board at last season’s Zone Championship.
Stoner was third going into the final round after totaling 337.15 points in the prelims of the three-meter competition. He posted 277.00 points in the finals to place 11th with a combined total of 614.15 points. Crowe had 272.00 points after the prelims and registered 277.45 points during the finals for a 549.45 total.
Ohio State’s Hugh Stowe won the three-meter competition with 730.00 points (368.90-361.10). He also took the one-meter title on Friday. Shaun Kennedy from Minnesota was victorious in the platform competition on Sunday with 675.05 total points.
Based on their finishes at the zone meet, seven men from Zone C qualified for the NCAA Championships. To fill one of those seven spots a diver can either place first or second on the one- or three-meter springboard or win the platform event. If a diver has already qualified for the NCAA Championships based on his finish in another event, the next-place diver will qualify. For example, if the platform winner also wins the three-meter event, the second-place finisher in the three-meter event will qualify for NCAAs.
The list of seven qualifiers from Zone C was finalized on Sunday following the platform competition. Weston Wieser (Ohio State), Danny Cox (Purdue), Shaun Kennedy (Minnesota), Zach Schultz (Purdue), Hugh Stowe (Ohio State), Kellen Harkness (Ohio State) and Christopher Dalman (Cleveland State) advanced from Zone C and will compete in the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on March 15-17 in Minneapolis, Minn.
On Friday, Stoner placed seventh off the one-meter board. That marked his highest finish ever in an NCAA Zone meet. Bulfin was eighth, while Crowe placed 24th overall.
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