AUBURN, Ala. – The Auburn swimming and diving team would love to see their NCAA qualifier list grow over the next four days as the divers compete at the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships in hopes of earning a spot at the NCAA Championships.
The meet kicks off Sunday in Atlanta with the women's 1-meter competition.
"This is probably one of the most mentally brutal meets that you can go to because you realize that your whole season comes down to basically 12 dives," Auburn head diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "Because you do two lists of dives, and every dive counts. It's all or nothing."
The Tigers are also in one of the most challenging zones competing against the likes of Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Miami, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The Auburn divers are coming off the SEC Championships in Knoxville where Conner Pruitt, Hunter Kebler and Gretchen Wensuc all advanced to a final. Pruitt took fourth in the 3-meter final while Kebler and Wensuc each made the final on platform.
Pruitt, Kebler and freshman Whit Andrus will represent the Auburn men at Zones, and Wensuc will joined by junior Ashlynn Sullivan and freshman Abigail Farrar for the women.
"The message is to just do what we've been doing," Shaffer said. "When you go to a meet, it's not the time to make corrections or try something different. Focus on what they can control and the dives that they do, and you have to tune everything else out. You're not trying to one up one of your competitors. You're trying to do your dives, one dive at a time, to the best of your ability, and the results will take care of themselves."
At Zones, all divers will compete in prelims with the top 18 advancing to finals. In that round, the top five female and top four male divers will automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships. Depending on the event and gender, a certain number of additional qualifying spots will be allowed.
Women: 1-Meter (10), 3-Meter (10), Platform (9)
Men: 1-Meter (8), 3-meter (11), Platform (7).
Additionally, any diver who qualifies for NCAAs in one event will be allowed to compete in another event if they finish top 12 in that event at Zones.
Following the conclusion of Zones and the reimbursement process for qualifying, the full list of selected divers will be announced on Sunday, March 13.
SCHEDULE
Sunday, March 6
Women's 1M: Abigail Farrar, Ashlynn Sullivan
Monday, March 7
Men's 1M: Whit Andrus, Hunter Kebler, Conner Pruitt
Women's 3M: Abigail Farrar, Ashlynn Sullivan
Tuesday, March 8
Men's 3M: Whit Andrus, Hunter Kebler, Conner Pruitt
Women's Platform: Abigail Farrar, Ashlynn Sullivan, Gretchen Wensuc
Wednesday, March 9
Men's Platform: Whit Andrus, Hunter Kebler
