BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Highlighted by Morgan Meixner and Brandon Loschiavo earning their first career bids, the Purdue divers clinched five more spots at the NCAA Championships on day two of the Zone C Diving Championships.
Steele Johnson (third on 3-meter) and Samm Reese (ninth on 1-meter) also added springboard events to their NCAA Championships schedules after auto-qualifying for the national championship meet Thursday. They only needed to be among the top 12 finishers Friday.
Meixner and Loschiavo did not have that luxury, but still managed to clinch their berths by finishing among the top five on 1-meter and 3-meter, respectively. Meixner was fourth and Loschiavo fifth. After also finishing sixth on 1-meter Thursday, Loschiavo will also be eligible to compete in that event at NCAAs because the top 12 rule also applies to him once he posted an auto-qualifier finish.
So far at Zones, six Purdue divers have officially qualified for NCAAs. Johnson, Loschiavo and Reese have earned the right to compete in both springboard events. Joe Cifelli and Meixner are locked in for 1-meter and Emily Meaney clinched a 3-meter bid. Johnson, Loschiavo and Meaney would be among the favorites to post top 12 finishes on the platforms Saturday to add that event to their schedules at NCAAs. Max Showalter and Lexi Vincent are also at their bests on the platforms.
Meixner needed to finish among the top eight on 1-meter to clinch a bid and did so by improving on her prelims list score by 29.6 points in the final. Reese increased her list score by 28.6 points in the final to assure she would finish in the top 12. Meixner had the top score in the 18-diver field in a pair of rounds in the final.
Johnson surpassed 415 points on both of his lists, finishing among the top three for the second day in a row. Loschiavo was one of only five divers to surpass 400 points in the prelims. That helped him lock up the top-seven finish he needed even though his score dipped a bit in the final.
The Zone C Championships conclude Saturday with women's platform at 11 a.m. followed by the men's competition.
NCAA ZONE C DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
DAY TWO AUTOMATIC QUALIFIERS FOR NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
WOMEN'S 1-METER (TOP 8 FINISHERS; TOP 12 IF ALREADY QUALIFIED)
Rebecca Hamperian, Kentucky
Pei Lin, Miami (Ohio)
Jessica Parratto, Indiana
Morgan Meixner, Purdue
Madeline Sewell, Michigan State
Claire Andrews, Notre Dame
Kristen Hayden, Michigan
Paige Kelkenberg, Akron
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Samm Reese, Purdue
MEN'S 3-METER (TOP 7 FINISHERS; TOP 12 IF ALREADY QUALIFIED)
James Connor, Indiana
Michael Hixon, Indiana
Steele Johnson, Purdue
Colin Zeng, Ohio State
Brandon Loschiavo, Purdue
Sebastian Masteron, Kentucky
Joe Coumous, Notre Dame
PURDUE DIVERS, WOMEN'S 1-METER
Morgan Meixner, 582.1 -- Finished 4th (305.85 Finals, 276.25 Prelims)
Samm Reese, 544.9 -- Finished 9th (286.75 Finals, 258.15 Prelims)
PURDUE DIVERS, MEN'S 3-METER
Steele Johnson, 838.75 -- Finished 3rd (415.8 Finals, 422.95 Prelims)
Brandon Loschiavo, 780.30 -- Finished 5th (371.35 Finals, 408.95 Prelims)
Max Showalter, 284.9 -- Finished 22nd in Prelims
Joe Cifelli, 259.1 -- Finished 25th in Prelims