March 15, 2013
Men's Results (PDF) | Women's Results (PDF)
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.-- Penn State had two competitors that took to the boards on the first day of the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships hosted by Virginia Tech at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center. T.J. Schenkel placed 31st on the men's 3-meter board, while Megan Springsteen (Owego, N.Y.) claimed 30th place in the women's 1-meter competition.
Schenkel competed on the men's 1-meter board on the opening day of qualifying and walked away with a six-dive score of 244.50 in the prelims of the event. The sophomore was not among the 18 that qualified for the finals, as he placed 31st overall in his first Zone Diving Championship appearance.
On day two, Schenkel will compete on the 3-meter board, where he boasts a team-best score of 332.92. He set that mark vs. Villanova on Nov. 10, 2012 and has topped the 300-point mark twice on the season. He currently holds the top scores in all diving events for the Lions.
Springsteen ended day one of the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships with a 30th place showing on the 3-meter board with an overall score of 213.45, which was her fifth best score of the season. Only the top 18 scores advanced to the finals of the event, with Springsteen grabbing the No. 30 spot out of 40 competitors.
The junior was making her first appearance at the NCAA Zone Diving Championships and will close out her stay tomorrow on the 1-meter board. 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.
The day one automatic qualifying marks went to Logan Shinholser of Virginia Tech and Michael Mosca of Harvard on the men's side and Kaylea Arnett and Logan Kline of Virginia Tech and Danielle Cecco of Connecticut on the women's side..
Competing will be 86 student-athletes, 40 women and 46 men, 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 festivities will begin at Noon on Saturday, March 16 with the prelims of the respective events. Saturday will feature the women's 1-meter and men's 3-meter diving competitions.
--NITTANY LIONS--