LEXINGTON, Ky. — Seven LSU divers attempt to qualify for the NCAA Championships as the three-day NCAA Zone B Diving Meet gets underway Friday from Kentucky’s Lancaster Aquatic Center.
Friday’s schedule features the women’s 1-meter and men’s 3-meter slated to begin at 11 a.m. CT. The women compete in the 3-meter on Saturday, followed by the men’s 1-meter. Platform competition concludes the meet at 9 a.m. CT Sunday.
Thirteen spots are up for grabs on the men’s side, while the top-nine women earn berths. Those who qualify on the women’s side head to the NCAA Championships next weekend in Athens, Ga. The men’s meet follows a week later, March 23-25, in Atlanta, Ga.
“This is probably one of the toughest mental meets,” said diving coach Doug Shaffer. “You can train all year long but it really comes down to performing on a particular day and a group of days as to whether you will make it to national championships or not. Every single one of our divers is 100 percent better than what they were last year.”
Shaffer has helped qualify at least one male and female diver in each of his three previous seasons. Six divers have gone on to the NCAA Championships, and eight All-America honors have been gathered. Shaffer believes this year’s squad is capable of continuing the trend after a successful SEC Championships.
“Our preparation has been going great since our conference meet ended,” added Shaffer. “I feel overall our performance at the conference meet was good but as a building process toward the later half of the championship season.”
Sophomore Niko Dalman, a 2005 All-American in the 1-meter, is the lone diver on the team who reached NCAAs last season. Dalman was the only freshman out of all the Zone B participants to qualify for the national championships.
This season, Dalman owns the Tigers’ highest scores in all three diving events — 1-meter, 3-meter and platform. Freshman Nathan Schreiber is second on the team in 1-meter and 3-meter scoring.
“If you look at SEC results and plug in the NCAA qualifying formula, Niko and Nathan qualify for the national championships,” said Shaffer.
On the women’s side, junior Hali Saucier enters her third Zone B Meet. Saucier just missed qualifying last season with finals’ finishes in the 3-meter and platform.
“Hali has been diving really well and is up to performance,” said Shaffer. “She has more experience under her belt. It is going to be a matter of if we can win with the right mindset and do the job. If so, we get to train for another couple of weeks.”