FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – Three Wildcat divers will be representing Arizona at the NCAA Championships in late March after earning top finals finishes at the NCAA D1 Zone E Diving Championships.
Gage DuBois, Brooke Earley and Zara Ayazi each earned automatic NCAA qualifications in two separate events by placing in the top finals spots.
To automatically qualify on the women's side, divers had to make the top eight on 1-meter and 3-meter and top nine for the platform event. On the men's side, divers had to end up in the top six on 1-meter and 3-meter and top seven on platform.
Day 1: Monday, March 10
Events: Men's 1m, Women's 3m
Earley and DuBois started the Championships on the right note for the Cats. DuBois nabbed the bronze in the men's 1m event (695.60), securing an automatic NCAA qualification. Not long after, Earley finished fourth in the 3m (598.60), also guaranteeing herself a spot in the NCAA Championships.
Freshman Colin Agor also advanced to the finals in the 1m, finishing 12th overall (577.10).
Day 2: Tuesday, March 11
Events: Women's platform, Men's 3m
Junior Zara Ayazi earned her first NCAA qualification on Tuesday, finishing fourth in the women's platform event with a combined score of 520.45. This will be Ayazi's first time competing at the NCAA Championships.
DuBois and Agor also advanced to the finals on Tuesday but fell short of the top-6 finish that would have earned them an automatic qualification in the 3m event.
Day 3: Wednesday, March 12
Events: Men's platform, Women's 1m
The final day of the Zone E Championship was the most successful of the week for the Cats, with every Arizona diver competing in the men's platform and women's 1m advancing to finals.
In the men's platform event, DuBois, Agor and Theo Hrach each secured spots in the finals. DuBois was the only Arizona diver to qualify for the NCAA's in the event, placing 5th with a 730.95 combined score.
For the women's 1m, both Earley and Ayazi earned their second NCAA qualification. Earley finished in the event's top spot, with a combined score of 586.10. Ayazi followed closely behind, scoring 526.30 to secure a fourth-place finish.
Earley and Ayazi will join five female swimmers (Lexi Duchsherer, Eleni Gewalt, Julia Wozniak, Riley Botton and Alyssa Schwengel) in their representation of Arizona at the women's NCAA Championships, which will be held in Federal Way, Washington from March 19-22.
DuBois will join seven male swimmers (Tomas Lukminas, Ralph Daleiden, Haakon Naughton, Jadan Nabor, Lars Kuljus, Hunter Ingram and Miles Bottai) at the men's championships in Federal Way. The men's championships will take place March 27-30.
