Just one meet stands in the way of four ASU divers hoping to qualify for the NCAA championships next week.
Seniors Elina Eggers, Constantin Blaha, Cameron Bradshaw and freshman Kevin Olson head to Colorado Springs, Colo., on Thursday to compete in the NCAA Zone E Championships.
“It’s our qualifier for the NCAA championships,” dive coach Mark Bradshaw said. “It’s our actual (playoff) competition.”
NCAA qualifiers for the men’s division are awarded to the top two finishers in the 1-meter, 3-meter, 5-meter springboards and the platform event, and third-place finishers in the 1-meter and 3-meter.
Eggers needs to place first in any women’s event, earn second in the 1-meter or earn third or better in the 3-meter in order to make the trip.
However, some divers have been here before. All three seniors placed in the Zone Es last year and made the trip to nationals.
Eggers and Cameron Bradshaw both come into the meet following big finishes in the Pac-12 championships. Eggers won the conference title in the women’s 10-meter platform and earned a silver medal in the 3-meter and bronze in the 1-meter.
Bradshaw placed second in the men’s 1-meter and took the bronze in the 3-meter.
“Hopefully they should do very well here,” Mark Bradshaw said. “They’re at the top of this region.”
Since the Pac-12s, the focal point for the divers in the preceding week has not been about conditioning as it was earlier in the season, but rather executing on the actual stage.
“Practices have been good,” Mark Bradshaw said. “We’ve had about a week off from our conference championships. At this point, our training is pretty much taken care of. It’s just getting to the big competition. That’s pretty much where we are now. We’re ready to go.”
ASU is entered in a field of 19 teams, including Pac-12 foes UA, California, Stanford, UCLA, USC and Utah. The Sun Devils will be up against some of the nation’s elite divers, including Pac-12 champions UA redshirt senior Ben Grado and USC senior Victoria Ishimatsu.
Reach the reporter at jnacion@asu.edu
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