UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State men's and women's diving is set to compete in the 2020-21 Big Ten Championships hosted by Purdue at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center from Wednesday Feb. 24, to Saturday, Feb. 27.
The four-day meet is scheduled to commence with the men's 1-meter on Thursday, February 25 and end with the women's 1-meter on Saturday, February 27.
The divers will get six dives to impress in the 1-meter and 3-meter, and the top 18 divers in each event will move onto finals, when they will perform six more dives. Scores from prelims are carried over into the finals. The platform event features all entered divers taking 12 dives.
Wednesday, Feb. 24
Practice day
Thursday, Feb. 25 – PRELIMS at 1:20 p.m. ET
Men's 1-Meter
Women's 3-Meter
Thursday, Feb. 25 – FINALS at 7:35 p.m. ET
Men's 1-Meter
Women's 3-Meter
Friday, Feb. 26 – PRELIMS at 1:20 p.m. ET
Men's 3-Meter
Women's Platform
Friday, Feb. 26 – FINALS at 7:35 p.m. ET
Men's 3-Meter
Women's Platform
Saturday, Feb. 27 – PRELIMS at 1:20 p.m. ET
Men's Platform
Women's 1-Meter
Saturday, Feb. 22 – FINALS at 7:35 p.m. ET
Men's Platform
Women's 1-Meter
COVERAGE
All sessions will be streamed live via BTN+ and all live stats will be available on Sidearm and DiveMeets.com.
THE MEET
The Nittany Lions will face some of the toughest competition in the country as six conference teams enter the event as members of the CSCAA Top 25. Northwestern leads the pack ranked at No. 7, followed by No. 9 Michigan, No. 17 Wisconsin, No. 21 Indiana, No. 22 Minnesota and No. 23 Ohio State. Penn State received nine votes to be placed in the CSCAA Top 25.
THE NITTANY LIONS
Bryce Hoch will be representing the Nittany Lions at his final Big Ten Championships this week. During his senior campaign, Hoch has performed well in the 3-meter, qualifying for NCAA Zones with a personal-best score of 340.28. He's also secured a win in the event (333.38) against Michigan State, and earned second against Arizona with a final score of 285.08.
Junior Sierra Shurts will be leading the female divers at Big Tens following an impressive season filled with improvements. At the Ohio State meet in the beginning of January, Shurts dove for personal bests in both the 1-meter (268.15) and 3-meter (303.05), earning NCAA Zone cuts for both events as well.
Sophomore Wei Wei also had an impressive second season with the Nittany Lions, earning a NCAA Zone C-Cut score in the 3-meter (289.65) at the home meet against Michigan State. Her 3-meter score was a personal best along with her 1-meter score (260.) from the same meet, which earned her second place tied with senior Kamryn Umbel.
Sophomore Kevin Sullivan will also enter his second B1Gs with an NCAA Zones qualifying score of 324.00 in the 3-meter. Last year, he earned a personal-best at the Championships in the Platform (247.15) and also competed in the 1-meter (237.85) and 3-meter dives (305.25). So far this season, Sullivan has earned a win in the 1-meter (297.00) and second in the 3-meter (324.00), both dives being against Michigan State.
Umbel will compete in her final Big Ten Championships starting tomorrow after a consistent season of diving. Her best meet this season was at Ohio State where she placed sixth in the 3-meter (275.90) and seventh in the 1-meter (264.50).
Jonah Cey will also compete for men this week. The junior has fared well on the boards this season earning second in the 1-meter (295.95) against the Spartans, and led the Nittany Lions in the 1-meter (265.50) and 3-meter (283.43) against Nebraska earlier this season.
Newcomer Logan Krabbe will be competing in his first Big Tens after joining the team just last season. Krabbe was formerly on the Penn State Men's Gymnastics team until he switched to diving his sophomore year. He has continued to improve in his rookie campaign, earning two personal-bests in the 1-meter (263.85) and 3-meter (299.78) during his last contest against Michigan State.
B1G CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Penn State has claimed three Big Ten women's swimming & diving championships (2002, 2005, 2006) and 43 individual championships since first competing in 1992.
The Nittany Lion men have competed for one Big Ten Championship victory, claiming the title during the 1998-99 season. They've also tallied 19 individual wins at Big Tens since their debut in 1992.
The women finished eighth last year with a total of 517.5 points and eighteen top-16 finishes at 2020 Big Ten Championships in Iowa City, Iowa.
Last season, the men concluded their B1Gs ninth overall with a final score of 531and sixteen top-16 finishes in Bloomington, Indiana.
Christina Crowell, now graduated placed 14th in the 3-meter after prelims and moved up to 12th overall in the semifinals, making her the highest scoring Penn State women's diver since Lisa Silvestri who placed in the top eight in the 1-Meter and 3-Meter in 2004.
In the platform, sophomore Sierra Shurts led the Nittany Lions with a 19th-place finish with a score of 193.5, which was the first time a Penn State women's diver has scored in the platform since in at least thirteen years.
Both Hoch and Sullivan represented Penn State at last year's Big Ten Championships in the 1-meter, 3-meter, and Platform events.
Check GoPSUSports.com for coverage of the Penn State swimming and diving teams during the season. Follow the team on Twitter at @PennStateSWIM , on Instagram at @pennstateswimdive , and on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstateswimminganddiving.