MEET INFORMATION
Purdue Men & Women at the Zone C Diving Championships
Monday, March 7 to Wednesday, March 9
Canham Natatorium / Ann Arbor, Michigan
AUTOMATIC QUALIFYING SPOTS TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS FROM ZONE C
Top 12 in an event also qualify for NCAAs if he or she has already auto-qualified
1-Meter - Women: 9 // Men: 9
3-Meter - Women: 10 // Men: 9
Platform - Women: 9 // Men: 11
ZONE C SCHEDULE
Top 18 in prelims advance to finals
Monday at 1 p.m. – Women's 1-Meter, Men's 3-Meter
Tuesday at 1 p.m. – Women's 3-Meter, Men's 1-Meter
Wednesday at 11 a.m. – Platform for Both Genders (Women First)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – All 10 Purdue divers compete for berths at the NCAA Championships as the Zone C Diving Championships return to Big Ten country as the University of Michigan hosts the annual qualifier.
Action is set for 1 p.m. ET on Monday and Tuesday, 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Canham Natatorium in Ann Arbor, which is also scheduled to serve as the host of both the men's and women's Big Ten Championships next season.
For many years, Zone C featured a Thursday-to-Saturday schedule, but the dates shifted to Sunday-Monday-Tuesday last year in Lexington and it remains a weekday event this season. That provides more turnaround time for the women who qualify for the NCAA Championships. The women's national championship meet begins Wednesday, March 16. The men's showcase is the following week.
All-Americans Ben Bramley, Greg Duncan, Maggie Merriman, Emily (Bretscher) Pfeiffer and Maycey Vieta have all qualified for the NCAA Championships at Zones. They're joined this year by five Boilermakers making their Zones debuts – Sam Bennett, Tyler Downs, Sophie McAfee, Jordan Rzepka and Jenna Sonnenberg. Excluding the 2020 edition of the Zone C meet, which was shut down on day 1 of the qualifier due to the coronavirus pandemic, every Boilermaker that has competed at Zones going back to 2017 has qualified for the NCAA Championships in at least one event.
PURDUE SCHEDULE AT ZONES – INDIVIDUAL
Career appearances at NCAAs in parenthesis
• Sam Bennett: 1-Meter, 3-Meter
• Ben Bramley (2): Platform
• Tyler Downs: 1-Meter, 3-Meter, Platform
• Greg Duncan (3, 1 at UNC): 1-Meter, 3-Meter
• Sophie McAfee: 1-Meter, 3-Meter, Platform
• Maggie Merriman (2): Platform
• Emily (Bretscher) Pfeiffer (3): 1-Meter, Platform
• Jordan Rzepka: 1-Meter, 3-Meter, Platform
• Jenna Sonnenberg: 1-Meter, 3-Meter
• Maycey Vieta (1): Platform
As fifth-year student-athletes, Duncan and Pfeiffer aim to close out their careers as four-year NCAA Championships qualifiers at Purdue. Duncan had actually qualified via a third-place finish on 3-meter in 2020 about an hour before action was halted in the middle of the women's 1-meter final. His first berth at the national championship meet was as an Atlantic Coast Conference champion at North Carolina in 2018.
Duncan and Pfeiffer have an opportunity to join an elite list of Boilermakers to be four-time NCAAs qualifier. That group of divers currently includes Casey Matthews (2009-10, 2013-14), Joe Cifelli (2016-19) and Brandon Loschiavo (2017-19, 2021).
ROAD TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS RUNS THROUGH ZONES
• Unlike their swimmer counterparts, the divers have to perform well this week to qualify for the NCAA Championships. No other scores or results from regular-season competition or the Big Ten Championships are considered.
• Securing at least one automatic-qualifying finish at Zones is the key. The top 12 overall in each event remains the other notable portion of the leaderboard. Once a diver has auto-qualified in one event, he or she only has to be among the top 12 in an additional event to also be eligible to compete in it at NCAAs.
• The allotted auto-qualifying spots in each event are determined by the number scoring finishes a Zone accounted for in that event at NCAAs the year prior.
• Unlike Big Tens and NCAAs, scores carry over from the preliminary to final at Zones. The top 18 qualify for the final.
Headlined by Loschiavo's national title on the tower and medalist honors in the same event by Bramley (silver) and Vieta (bronze), all six Boilermakers that competed in the diving events at NCAAs last year earned All-America accolades as a championship finalist in at least one event.
The Boilermakers won five diving medals at the Big Ten Championships this year. Vieta and Merriman won silver and bronze together for the second time in the women's platform final, with Merriman joining elite company as Purdue divers to medal at Big Tens three years in a row. Rzepka demonstrated his versatility by winning silver on both 3-meter and platform. Downs claimed bronze on 1-meter and was a championship finalist in all three events, the lone Boilermaker (swimmer or diver) to accomplish the feat at Big Tens this season.
The University of Kentucky hosted the last two Zone C qualifiers. Prior to 2020, Indiana, Ohio State and Purdue had been the only universities to host Zone C dating back to 2010. A Purdue diver has not competed at Michigan's aquatic center for an NCAA meet since the Wolverines hosted the women's Big Ten Championships in 2016.
Georgia Tech's McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta is set to host both the men's and women's NCAA Championships this month. The women's meet is set for March 16 to 19 and the men's the following week, March 23 to 26
PURDUE'S DAILY SCHEDULE AT ZONES
Monday
• Women's 1-Meter: Emily, Jenna, Sophie
• Men's 3-Meter: Greg, Jordan, Sam, Tyler
Tuesday
• Women's 3-Meter: Jenna, Sophie
• Men's 1-Meter: Greg, Jordan, Sam, Tyler
Wednesday
• Women's Platform: Emily, Maggie, Maycey, Sophie
• Men's Platform: Ben, Jordan, Tyler
ZONES ACROSS THE USA
• There are five Zone Championships meets around the country. Navy (Zone A), Wisconsin (Zone D) and Northern Arizona (Zone E) are also hosting Monday to Wednesday. Georgia Tech's Zone B qualifier is set for Sunday to Wednesday.
• Zone C includes universities in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky. That means there will be a large Big Ten contingent in attendance in Ann Arbor this week. Zone C also features divers from Cincinnati, Kentucky, Louisville, Notre Dame as well as selected Horizon and Summit League, Mid-American and Missouri Valley Conference schools.
Purdue Men & Women at the Zone C Diving Championships
Monday, March 7 to Wednesday, March 9
Canham Natatorium / Ann Arbor, Michigan
AUTOMATIC QUALIFYING SPOTS TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS FROM ZONE C
Top 12 in an event also qualify for NCAAs if he or she has already auto-qualified
1-Meter - Women: 9 // Men: 9
3-Meter - Women: 10 // Men: 9
Platform - Women: 9 // Men: 11
ZONE C SCHEDULE
Top 18 in prelims advance to finals
Monday at 1 p.m. – Women's 1-Meter, Men's 3-Meter
Tuesday at 1 p.m. – Women's 3-Meter, Men's 1-Meter
Wednesday at 11 a.m. – Platform for Both Genders (Women First)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – All 10 Purdue divers compete for berths at the NCAA Championships as the Zone C Diving Championships return to Big Ten country as the University of Michigan hosts the annual qualifier.
Action is set for 1 p.m. ET on Monday and Tuesday, 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Canham Natatorium in Ann Arbor, which is also scheduled to serve as the host of both the men's and women's Big Ten Championships next season.
For many years, Zone C featured a Thursday-to-Saturday schedule, but the dates shifted to Sunday-Monday-Tuesday last year in Lexington and it remains a weekday event this season. That provides more turnaround time for the women who qualify for the NCAA Championships. The women's national championship meet begins Wednesday, March 16. The men's showcase is the following week.
All-Americans Ben Bramley, Greg Duncan, Maggie Merriman, Emily (Bretscher) Pfeiffer and Maycey Vieta have all qualified for the NCAA Championships at Zones. They're joined this year by five Boilermakers making their Zones debuts – Sam Bennett, Tyler Downs, Sophie McAfee, Jordan Rzepka and Jenna Sonnenberg. Excluding the 2020 edition of the Zone C meet, which was shut down on day 1 of the qualifier due to the coronavirus pandemic, every Boilermaker that has competed at Zones going back to 2017 has qualified for the NCAA Championships in at least one event.
PURDUE SCHEDULE AT ZONES – INDIVIDUAL
Career appearances at NCAAs in parenthesis
• Sam Bennett: 1-Meter, 3-Meter
• Ben Bramley (2): Platform
• Tyler Downs: 1-Meter, 3-Meter, Platform
• Greg Duncan (3, 1 at UNC): 1-Meter, 3-Meter
• Sophie McAfee: 1-Meter, 3-Meter, Platform
• Maggie Merriman (2): Platform
• Emily (Bretscher) Pfeiffer (3): 1-Meter, Platform
• Jordan Rzepka: 1-Meter, 3-Meter, Platform
• Jenna Sonnenberg: 1-Meter, 3-Meter
• Maycey Vieta (1): Platform
As fifth-year student-athletes, Duncan and Pfeiffer aim to close out their careers as four-year NCAA Championships qualifiers at Purdue. Duncan had actually qualified via a third-place finish on 3-meter in 2020 about an hour before action was halted in the middle of the women's 1-meter final. His first berth at the national championship meet was as an Atlantic Coast Conference champion at North Carolina in 2018.
Duncan and Pfeiffer have an opportunity to join an elite list of Boilermakers to be four-time NCAAs qualifier. That group of divers currently includes Casey Matthews (2009-10, 2013-14), Joe Cifelli (2016-19) and Brandon Loschiavo (2017-19, 2021).
ROAD TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS RUNS THROUGH ZONES
• Unlike their swimmer counterparts, the divers have to perform well this week to qualify for the NCAA Championships. No other scores or results from regular-season competition or the Big Ten Championships are considered.
• Securing at least one automatic-qualifying finish at Zones is the key. The top 12 overall in each event remains the other notable portion of the leaderboard. Once a diver has auto-qualified in one event, he or she only has to be among the top 12 in an additional event to also be eligible to compete in it at NCAAs.
• The allotted auto-qualifying spots in each event are determined by the number scoring finishes a Zone accounted for in that event at NCAAs the year prior.
• Unlike Big Tens and NCAAs, scores carry over from the preliminary to final at Zones. The top 18 qualify for the final.
Headlined by Loschiavo's national title on the tower and medalist honors in the same event by Bramley (silver) and Vieta (bronze), all six Boilermakers that competed in the diving events at NCAAs last year earned All-America accolades as a championship finalist in at least one event.
The Boilermakers won five diving medals at the Big Ten Championships this year. Vieta and Merriman won silver and bronze together for the second time in the women's platform final, with Merriman joining elite company as Purdue divers to medal at Big Tens three years in a row. Rzepka demonstrated his versatility by winning silver on both 3-meter and platform. Downs claimed bronze on 1-meter and was a championship finalist in all three events, the lone Boilermaker (swimmer or diver) to accomplish the feat at Big Tens this season.
The University of Kentucky hosted the last two Zone C qualifiers. Prior to 2020, Indiana, Ohio State and Purdue had been the only universities to host Zone C dating back to 2010. A Purdue diver has not competed at Michigan's aquatic center for an NCAA meet since the Wolverines hosted the women's Big Ten Championships in 2016.
Georgia Tech's McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta is set to host both the men's and women's NCAA Championships this month. The women's meet is set for March 16 to 19 and the men's the following week, March 23 to 26
PURDUE'S DAILY SCHEDULE AT ZONES
Monday
• Women's 1-Meter: Emily, Jenna, Sophie
• Men's 3-Meter: Greg, Jordan, Sam, Tyler
Tuesday
• Women's 3-Meter: Jenna, Sophie
• Men's 1-Meter: Greg, Jordan, Sam, Tyler
Wednesday
• Women's Platform: Emily, Maggie, Maycey, Sophie
• Men's Platform: Ben, Jordan, Tyler
ZONES ACROSS THE USA
• There are five Zone Championships meets around the country. Navy (Zone A), Wisconsin (Zone D) and Northern Arizona (Zone E) are also hosting Monday to Wednesday. Georgia Tech's Zone B qualifier is set for Sunday to Wednesday.
• Zone C includes universities in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky. That means there will be a large Big Ten contingent in attendance in Ann Arbor this week. Zone C also features divers from Cincinnati, Kentucky, Louisville, Notre Dame as well as selected Horizon and Summit League, Mid-American and Missouri Valley Conference schools.