March 14, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.-- The championship season continues for the Penn State swimming and diving program as the Nittany Lion divers travel to Virginia Tech's Christiansburg Aquatic Center to compete in the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships. Both the men's and women's squad will send one representative, as sophomore T.J. Schenkel (Richboro, Pa.) will compete for the men and junior Megan Springsteen (Owego, N.Y.) will compete for the women for the opportunity to advance to the NCAA Championships next weekend in Indianapolis.
Schenkel will make his first appearance at the NCAA Zone A Qualifying meet, exceeding standards once on the 1-meter board and twice on the 3-meter board. Schenkel had a banner day against Villanova on Nov. 10, 2012, posting two first-place scores and qualifying in both events. Blowing his previous personal best score of 286.05 out of the water, the sophomore recorded a score of 332.92 in the 3-meter dive to win the event. He also went on to record a new person record of 301.05 on the 1-meter board, topping his previous record of 283.50. Schenkel again qualified on the 3-meter board against Missouri State on Jan, 12, 2013, posting a solid score of 321.1. He currently holds the top scores in all diving events for the Lions, including platform diving where he holds a season-best score of 212.60.
Springsteen posted her qualifying mark on the 1-meter board when she compiled a score of 268.42 vs. Villanova on Nov. 11, 2012 to win the event. The junior also won the event against Navy on Jan. 26, 2013 with a mark of 243.82 and later placed second on the board vs. Towson with a score of 251.37 on Feb. 2. She was the team's top performer on the 3-meter board all season, as well, owning the top three marks and five of the top ten dives on the squad. Springsteen's top score was 264.00, which was just off of the 280.00 qualifying mark for the zones on the t3-meter board. She won the 3-meter board vs. Villanova and Navy during the season, as well.
Competing will be 86 student-athletes from 30 different schools. Those contenders will be vying for automatic qualifying spots to the NCAA Championships, with Zone A allotted six women's and five men's automatic bids to next weekend's NCAA Championships.
The NCAA Zone A Diving Championships will begin at Noon each day. Friday will start with the women's 3-meter and men's 1-meter. Saturday will feature the women's 1-meter and men's 3-meter, while Sunday will conclude the event with both platform diving competitions.
--NITTANY LIONS--