Divers Travel to Knoxville for NCAA Zone B Championships

March 11, 2009

KNOXVILLE, TN – Leslie Hasselbach and the Tiger divers will travel to Knoxville for the NCAA Zone B Championship meet from March 12-15 at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center in Knoxville, TN. Five Tigers will compete for a spot in the NCAA Championships, which are held in College Station, TX. Results can be followed using the live scoring link.

This will be the second time the tigers have traveled to Knoxville, as Hasselbach’s group became accustomed to the facility during the Tennessee Diving Invite in early January. In order to qualify for the Zone meet, divers must have met a specified qualifying score based on the event.

In the championship meet, the top 18 scorers in preliminary action qualify for finals in that event. Then, in finals, there is a formula by which the NCAA selects eleven men and ten women to compete at the NCAA meet at Texas A&M. The winner of each of the three events automatically qualifies for the national competition.

Clemson is led by David Giambra, who is the school record-holder in all three diving events. He posted a career-best 331.30 on the one-meter boards at the ACC championships and finished eighth overall. He also picked up a school record in the three-meter event in a dual meet against NC State on Jan. 24. He also posted a career-best in the platform event as he finished 10th at the ACC championships.

Ryan McDaniel qualified or the Zone meet by posting a 321.00 on the three-meter event against NC State.

On the women’s side, two freshmen and a junior will compete for the Tigers. Junior Stephanie Fura will make her second appearance at the Zone meet, as she qualified for the competition with a 278.02 on the one-meter event in the Georgia Last Chance Meet last weekend.

Brooke George and Cassie Self each posted qualifying scores in both the one and three meter events for Clemson. This will be their first appearance at the Zone meet.