March 13, 2015
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The University of Notre Dame diving program featured three women and two men Thursday afternoon at the NCAA Zone C Qualifier meet. Allison Casareto, Lindsey Streepey and Emma Gaboury all competed for the women’s team in the three-meter event, while sophomore Joseph Coumos and Michael Kreft dove for the men’s team in the one-meter competition. Coumos and Kreft both finished outside of qualifying standards, but Casareto punched her ticket to the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships with her eighth-place finish (read full recap here).
Coumos, the lone Irish diver at the 2014 Championships, placed ninth Thursday evening with a final score of 645.00. Kreft, trying to earn his first NCAA appearance, came in 13th (626.55). While both divers missed the qualifying mark in the one-meter, they can still qualify in the three-meter and platform events taking place Friday and Saturday.
Per the NCAA, the rules this year state that the top five female and top four male divers from each event at their respective zone diving meet will be eligible to compete at the NCAA championships. Additional qualifiers in each event will be based on the number of student-athletes from each zone who finished in the top 16 at last year’s NCAA Championships. For Zone C, only the top five finishers in men’s one-meter qualified this year; in the three-meter event, the top eight finishers and in platform, the top six finishers will earn berths at the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships.
Diving resumes Friday at 1 p.m. ET with the men’s three-meter and the women’s 1-meter competitions. Follow @NDDiving for updated results.
Men’s 1-Meter Event Results
1. Michael Hixon (Indiana) 823.50
2. Steele Johnson (Purdue) 778.25
3. James Connor (Indiana) 771.60
4. Stephen Ettiene (Ohio St.) 722.40
5. Jamie Bissett (Purdue) 712.55
6. Shane Miszkiel (Ohio St.) 691.85
7. Cody Coldren (Indiana) 661.05
8. Stephen Romanik (Ohio St.) 656.90
9. Joseph Coumos (Notre Dame)645.00
10. Kegan Skelton (Southern Illinois) 641.30
11. Joshua Arndt (Indiana) 637.80
12. Alec Back (Purdue) 630.90
13. Michael Kreft (Notre Dame) 626.55
14. Daniel Gironza (Eastern Michigan) 623.80
15. Sean Piner (Louisville) 621.50
16. Alex Chan (Eastern Michigan) 606.50
17. Thomas Jahnke (Michigan) 598.40
18. Kenneth Watts (IUPUI) 592.95