ATLANTA — Freshman Niko Dalman and senior Jessica Wantz made it official on Sunday, as the two LSU divers qualified for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at the final of competition of the Zone B Meet from the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
Dalman was brilliant on Sunday, placing ninth in the men’s 10-meter platform finals with a score of 429.10. The Auburn, Wash. qualified with his final dive. Out of all of the participating Zone B divers who qualified, Dalman was the lone freshman reaching the NCAA Championships.
“It was a phenomenal performance by Niko,” said diving coach Doug Shaffer. “He’s worked hard all year long and made significant results every time out.”
Wantz, who finished 14th in the platform on Sunday, will represent the Tigers in the 1-meter springboard next week as her fourth-place mark on Saturday was officially confirmed as an NCAA qualifier.
Sophomore Hali Saucier just missed reaching her first NCAA Championships with an excellent score of 373.10 in the platform. Saucier placed eighth out of 17 divers.
“Overall, I was really proud of all of the Tigers this weekend,” added Shaffer. “They all rose to the occasion and represented LSU well this weekend.”
The Women’s NCAA Championships get underway on Thursday from West Lafayette, Ind. The three-day event will take place at Purdue’s Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
The Men’s NCAA Championships will run March 24-26 from Minneapolis, Minn.