March 11, 2005
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The women's Magnificent Seven for NCAA's is now an Elite Eight and the men's Triple Threat is now a Fantastic Four with the addition of Carrie McCambridge and Steven LoBue to the championship rosters.
McCambridge will join Tracy Duchac, Susan Hentschel, Jennifer Lavers, Christine Leupold, Katie Seleskie Carlene Takaki and Lauren Willis at the women's national championship meet, which takes place at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center, March 17 to 19.
LoBue joins the group heading to Minnesota, which is comprised of Louis Paul, Giordan Pogioli and Romain Maire. The men's NCAA meet begins March 25.
"Steve did a great job today," said diving coach Wenbo Chen. "Of the 12 dives he took, I think he only missed on two of them, so I can see that his confidence level is building. After Big Ten's I've noticed that he's starting to trust himself more."
LoBue was the runner-up Friday to Ohio State's Mitch Richeson off the 1-meter springboard with a varsity record score of 641.85 points. LoBue broke the mark held by Eric Van Kannel since 1989. Richeson won the title with a Doris Z. Holloway pool record score of 658.50 points.
Richeson was also dominant at the Big Ten Championships, winning the 1-meter crown and finishing second off the 3-meter. Indiana's Marc Carlton, who was the leading point scorer among Big Ten divers, was third with 629.70 points.
According to the NCAA's zone qualifying order, Richeson, LoBue and Carlson have clinched the No. 3, 5 and 7 spots for the national championships. The No. 1 allocation goes to the platform winner, and the No. 2 and 4 spots go to the winner and runner-up of the 3-meter springboard.
Should Richeson, Carlton or LoBue match their performances from today, then those qualifying spots would be passed over to the two next highest finishers. Once divers qualify for nationals off one board, they're allowed to compete in all three competitions at NCAA's.
The Boilermakers had two other competitors finish among the top 10 off the 1-meter: senior Clay Davis (583.30) and Josh Karshen (575.50). Karshen's score was a lifetime best.
McCambridge finished second to Iowa's Nancilea Underwood, 560.30 to 546.10 in 3-meter competition. Underwood received the Zone's second allocation for winning, while McCambridge claimed the No. 4 spot with her varsity record breaking point total.
"Carrie did real well," said Chen. "I've been working her hard since Big Ten's, trying to prepare her for this meet. And since she's competing at home, I can tell that she is more relaxed and comfortable."
Grabbing the No. 6 spot was Indiana's Cassandra Cardinell, who scored 512.45 points. Surprisingly only two Hoosier divers finished among the top eight, after claiming half the same spots at the Big Ten Championships.
Boilermaker Amanda Miller, a 2004 NCAA participant, was 15th with 433.95 points.
Diving resumes Saturday at 11 a.m. with the women competing off the 1-meter, while the men go off the 1-meter. Round-by-round results of the NCAA Region C Diving Zones can be found here.