March 13, 2005
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Indiana divers Marc Carlton and Cassandra Cardinell swept the platform competition Sunday at the NCAA Region C Diving Zones, helping a few of their teammates advance with them to the national championships.
Since Cardinell and Carlton fared well off both springboards Friday and Saturday, their wins off the tower allowed fellow Hoosiers to move up the order of Zone qualifiers. The IU contingency at NCAA's will be comprised of Carlton, Cardinell, Brian Mariano, Ryan Fagan, Christina Loukas and Lisa Silvestri.
Cardinell's score of 524.05 off the tower moved Silvestri into the No. 3 spot of the 1-meter competition, and lifted Julie Broms of Ohio State into the third spot of the 3-meter. Cardinell won the competition Sunday by more than 70 points over runner-up Jessica Livingston of Minnesota (452.10). The Hoosier was also fourth off the 1-meter and third off the 3-meter.
Carrie McCambridge of Purdue was third off the platform tower with 445.00 points.
McCambridge qualified for NCAA's Friday after posting a runner-up finish off the 3-meter. Also joining McCambridge and the IU empire at NCAA's are Iowa's Nancilea Underwood (3-meter champion) and Meghan Perry-Eaton of Notre Dame (third place; 1-meter). Boilermaker Amanda Miller needed to win the tower to advance to NCAA's for a second straight year, but placed seventh with a career-best total of 414.00 points.
"Carrie is going to do very well this week," said Purdue diving coach Wenbo Chen. "This is her second time at NCAA's, so I expect her to have a higher level of confidence, plus she's been training well since Big Ten's."
McCambridge, an honorable mention All-American last year off the 3-meter, is anxious to compete again at nationals.
"I'm really excited to have made it out of this zone, because I think it's the most difficult of them all," said McCambridge. "I feel that I'm diving better now compared to this time last year. I know what to expect from this meet and I'm comfortable with the pool and boards."
Chen concurred with McCambridge on Zone C's competitiveness.
"Zone C is very strong on the women's side, and I think they'll bring back a few more spots for next season," said Chen, who thinks the number of allocations for Zone C will be raised from seven to 11 or 12.
Chen does not expect the same for the men's side, which might see an increase of one or two allocations. "I think we'll have some high scores, but Zone B is a lot stronger," said Chen, referring to Southeast diving region.
Carlton's platform score of 595.95 established a new pool record for a 10-round event. Michigan's Jason Coben holds the facility's record for a nine-dive platform competition with 540.45 points. Placing behind Carlton was Mariano with 517.45 points and Northwestern's Mike Oxman, who earned 484.35 points. Josh Karshen was Purdue's top finisher with a sixth-place total of 468.20 points.
The Boilermaker's lone NCAA diving representative, Steven LoBue, was seventh with 447.30 points. LoBue qualified for Zone's on Friday with a second-place finish off the 1-meter springboard.
"The NCAA's are going to be a new experience for Steve, but I think he can handle all the pressure and excitement," said Chen. "He's done very well at Minnesota in the past and maybe his experience with the boards will give him an advantage."
At the Minnesota Invitational in November, LoBue won the platform championship and was second off both springboards. He, along with Louis Paul, Giordan Pogioli and Romain Maire begin competing at NCAA's on Thursday, March 24. Also going to Minnesota for nationals from Zone C are Ohio State Buckeye's Mitch Richeson, Kellen Harkness and Nick Hanneman. Incredibly, Indiana and Ohio State diving claimed 10 of the 14 allocated spots given to Zone C.
The Women's NCAA Championships, which features eight Boilermakers, starts this Thursday, March 17 at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center. The Gold and Black championship roster is comprised of McCambridge, Tracy Duchac, Susan Hentschel, Jennifer Lavers, Christine Leupold, Katie Seleskie, Carlene Takaki and Lauren Willis.