LSU Diving Qualifies Two for NCAA Championships
BATON ROUGE, La. - The
LSU Diving team completed the third day of competition at the NCAA Zone
‘D’ Regionals and now will turn its attention to the men’s and women’s
NCAA Championships.
Freshman diver Alex Bettridge and sophomore
Daniel Helm will represent the Tigers at the NCAA Championships
following their one-meter springboard performances over the three-day
meet.
“On the men’s side, Daniel needed to perform well, but at
the end of the day his springboard performance is what got him to the
NCAA Championships,” Diving Coach Shaffer said. “He is one of nine that
have qualified from our zone.”
The Women's NCAA Championships is
slated for March 15-17 at the Martin Aquatics Center in Auburn, Ala.
The Men's NCAA Championships is scheduled for March 22-24 at the
Weyerhaeuser King Co. Aquatic Center in Seattle, Wash.
Helm
qualified after punching out a one-meter sixth place finish with a
12-line total of 676.25. Helm posted a preliminary round score of
327.35 and a final round score of 348.90.
Bettridge qualified
after scoring a 12-dive total of 578.20 in a fourth place finish on the
one-meter. She qualified for the final round after a six-dive
preliminary mark of 283.85, and posted a six-dive final total of 294.35.
Both
the men’s and women’s side wrapped up the third day of competition on
the platform. The men produced six dives in both the preliminary and
final rounds, while the women dove five times in each round.
Only 12 divers were selected to move on to the final round in the platform event.
Senior
Matt Vieke manufactured an eighth place finish in his final collegiate
competition with a 12-dive total of 580.85. Vieke was in 10th entering
the finals after a preliminary score of 262.65.
The
Indianapolis, Ind. native improved his overall score with a final round
total of 318.20. Vieke’s final round total represented the fourth
highest mark in the program’s history and a new career best.
“Matt
was just a stellar student athlete that improved each and every single
year,” Shaffer said. “He didn’t have to dive platform today. He loves
his sport and it just shows the character and spirit that Matt has for
the sport. He did it for fun. He earned his personal best score in his
performance in the second list today. It was a great way for him to end
his collegiate career with a pure sense of what this is all about.
Helm
registered a sixth place finish with a 12-line total of 638.80. Helm
ended the prelims in seventh with a six-dive total of 309.60, and added
a final round mark of 329.20. His sixth-place total of 638.80 eclipsed
his freshman Zone’s mark of 571.00.
Junior Elle Schmidt cranked out a 16th place finish with a total of 217.00, which nearly beat her previous high of 221.95.
Bettridge finished her platform run in 23rd place with a score of 197.25.
“Day
three was a good day for us,” Shaffer said. “On the women’s side, Alex
having already qualified for the NCAA Championships just kind of worked
some the bugs out. Elle was very competitive and gained a lot of
experience.”
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