COLLEGE STATION, Texas — LSU divers Rebecca St. Germain and Brian Gemberling each recorded top-10 finishes to lead the Tigers on the first day of the NCAA Zone ‘D’ Diving Regional Friday at Texas A&M’s Student Rec Center Natatorium in College Station, Texas.
St. Germain, the Southeastern Conference Female Freshman Diver of the Year, earned ninth in the finals of the women’s one-meter springboard competition with a combined score of 525.90. The San Antonio native reached the final round with a preliminary mark of 279.20.
Gemberling claimed 10th in the men’s three-meter after tallying a combined score of 656.15. The sophomore finished strong with a final-round score of 352.35.
“Considering our youth and inexperience, I thought we did a good job and competed well,” LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “Both Becca and Brian missed on one dive, and at this level, there is no room for mistakes, but I thought both represented LSU really well, and we’ll have another shot at qualifying for NCAA’s tomorrow.”
Freshman Elle Schmidt placed 21st in the women’s one-meter after registering a score of 236.00 in the prelims. Fellow freshman Jesse Lyman posted a score of 238.50 to finish 20th in the men’s three-meter.
Houston’s Anastasia Pozdniakova, the defending NCAA one-meter champion, emerged victorious on that board in the women’s competition with a combined total of 683.55. Texas A&M’s Grant Nel won the men’s three-meter with a 828.20 combined score.
The men and women will switch springboards for Saturday’s action with the men moving to the one-meter and the women taking off from the three-meter.