Seniors Elias Petersen and Kathryn Grant led the Utah diving team on March 10 by advancing to finals in their respective events during the second day of the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships in Flagstaff, Arizona.
The event is significant as it determines which divers qualify for the upcoming NCAA Swimming and Diving National Championships. Strong performances at this stage can secure athletes additional opportunities to compete at a national level.
Grant achieved Utah’s top finish of the day, placing 10th on the 3-meter springboard with a total score of 564.10. After ranking 13th in preliminaries, she improved her standing in finals by averaging nearly 48 points per dive, including three dives scoring over 52 points each. As a result, Grant added the 3-meter event to her schedule for the national championships later this month in Atlanta. “Kathryn fought really hard today and earned herself another event at NCAAs on 3-meter,” head coach Richard Marschner said. “She stayed steady throughout the whole competition and did what she needed to do to get the job done.”
Freshman Cierra Cole narrowly missed qualifying for finals, finishing prelims in 19th place with a score of 261.35. Fellow freshman Annalise Shrader scored a 244.35, while Callie Eaglestone recorded a total of 232.65 after previously winning the NCAA Zone title on the 1-meter board earlier in the meet. Marschner said, “It was great for Annalise and Cierra to get into the meet. They both outperformed their seed, so to speak, so very happy with how they performed. Cierra was just out of finals by one place, but good to see them get experience and get used to this meet.”
On the men’s side, Petersen was Utah’s only finalist on platform after placing 14th in qualifying with a score of 314.70 and finishing finals in 17th place with a total of 570.90 points across his dives. Marschner said, “Elias had a great effort… Tower isn’t his number-one event but he gave it everything he had today. I’m really happy he put himself out there and gave it a try.” Teammates Alex Just (282.50) and Attila Bernatsky (272.45) finished outside of finals qualification.
The NCAA Zone E Championships will conclude Wednesday, March 11 with women’s platform and men’s 1-meter springboard events beginning at 11:30 a.m.
