BATON ROUGE — Six LSU divers will seek bids to their respective NCAA Championships when they compete at the 2011 NCAA Zone ‘D’ Diving Regional, beginning Friday at the University of Texas’ Jamail Swimming Center in Austin.
Women’s divers Rebecca St. Germain and Elle Schmidt and men’s divers Daniel Helm, Brian Gemberling, Matt Vieke and Sean McKinney will represent LSU at the meet.
Seven men and 11 women will advance to NCAA’s from the Zone ‘D’ Regional, which features divers from 20 different schools.
The competition will run through Sunday with the springboard prelims on Friday and Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. (CST) and the platform action on Sunday starting at 11 a.m. Scores from the prelims will carry over to the finals.
Fans can access the results on www.DiveMeets.com, or follow us on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/LSUSwimDive) and Twitter (@LSUSwimDive) for updates.
“It’s great to be in Austin for the Zone Regional,” co-head coach Doug Shaffer said. “It’s a terrific atmosphere that will really add to our excitement and make us step up even more as we strive to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
“This regional is a very big meet with an elite field of 69 competitors, but our training has gone well over the past few weeks, and we’ll be ready to go starting tomorrow.”
St. Germain leads the LSU group into Austin after enjoying a stellar outing at the SEC Championships last month.
The sophomore earned a silver medal and All-SEC Second Team honors in one-meter diving after breaking the program record and registering the second-highest meet score ever with a mark of 331.15. The San Antonio native also reached the championship final of the three-meter after posting a program top-five score of 328.75 in the prelims.
Helm was the men’s top performer at the conference meet as the freshman delivered fifth overall in the three-meter with a program top-five score of 380.70 to earn a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team. The Beaverton, Ore., native holds the Tigers’ top season scores in one-meter and platform events.
Gemberling led the Tigers in the men’s one-meter at SEC’s, taking 10th with a 317.00 score. The junior is currently second on the squad in that event with his season best of 341.48.
Vieke, who notched 11th in the one-meter at SEC’s, possesses the squad’s top score in the three-meter with his career-high mark of 388.20 set in a dual meet against Texas A&M in January.
McKinney placed 10th in the men’s three-meter at the conference meet and ranks second on the team in the platform (290.60).
Schmidt, a sophomore from Mansfield, Ohio, contributed points for the Lady Tigers in both the three-meter and platform at SEC’s and recorded a new career high of 207.45 in the platform.
NCAA Zone ‘D’ Diving Regional
Austin, Texas – Jamail Center
March 11-13
Schedule of Events
Friday, March 11 – 10 a.m. (Prelims)
Men’s One-meter
Women’s Three-meter
Saturday, March 12 – 10 a.m.
Women’s One-meter
Men’s – Three-meter
Sunday, March 13 – 11 a.m.
Women’s Platform
Men’s Platform
Order of Priority for NCAA Championships
1. Winner of Platform
2. Winner of Three-meter
3. Winner of One-meter
4. Second-place Three-meter
5. Second-place One-meter
6. Third-place Three-meter
7. Third-place One-meter
8. Second-place Platform
9. Fourth-place Three-meter
10. Fourth-place One-meter
11. Fifth-place Three-meter
12. Third-place Platform
13. Fifth-place One-meter
14. Sixth-place Three-meter
15. Sixth-place One-meter
16. Fourth-place Platform
17. Seventh-place Three-meter
18. Seventh-place One-meter
19. Eighth-place Three-meter
20. Fifth-place Platform
21. Eighth-place One-meter
22. Ninth-place Three-meter
23. Ninth-place One-meter
24. Sixth-place Platform
25. 10th-place Three-meter
26. 10th-place One-meter
27. 11th-place Three-meter
28. Seventh-place Platform
29. 11th-place One-meter
30. 12th-place Three-meter
31. 12th-place One-meter
* The preceding list is an order of priority used to determine which divers advance to the NCAA Championships based on the allotted number for each zone (7 men/11 women will advance from Zone ‘D’). Slots that are filled by divers who have already qualified from a higher-ranked slot will be skipped over until the zone meets its required allotment.