This past Sunday, the Trinity women’s diving team qualified two additional divers for the NCAA Division III Zone Regional, rounding up the number of Tiger competitors to six. The Zone Regional will be hosted here in San Antonio at Josh Davis Natatorium Feb. 27-28.
Recently, senior Sara Miller and junior Alexa Bird posted their first of two required qualifying scores in the 1-meter board. On Sunday, Feb. 9, both Miller and Bird were successful in posting their second qualifying marks to officially qualify for the Zone Regional.
Bird ended up in second after posting a score of 265.25, while teammate Miller finished just behind her in third with her score of 260.
Before going into the meet, Miller expressed her confidence in both her teammate and herself.
“I’m a little nervous because it’s always a little scary to have to throw our hardest dives in hopes of qualifying, but I think we can both do it and hopefully we’ll have posted the scores we needed to at the end,” Miller said.
Miller’s confidence paid off, as both she and Bird did just that. Miller and Bird will be joining four of their Tiger teammates at the Zone Regional. Among those who previously qualified were sophomore Mollie Patzke for the second year in a row, first year Sarah Kate Mrknonich, first year Christine Peterson and first year Danielle Freund.
“This year we are anticipating to only have three spots that advance to nationals from our zone,” Patzke said. “I’m expecting a very competitive meet. Of course, my goal is to make it to nationals, but I know that will be very challenging. Ultimately, I hope to see the three spots from our zone be taken by at least two divers from Trinity.”
The top divers competing at the Zone Regional will then qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships, which will take place March 18-21 in Shenandoah, Texas. Last season, four competitors from this zone advanced to nationals. However, as Patzke noted, the Tigers are only counting on three such spots being available this year and will have to continue their hard work to earn a top spot.
The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship began this past Wednesday, Feb. 11, and runs through Saturday, Feb. 14, in Rockwall, Texas.
The Tiger swimmers and divers look to defend their titles as SCAC Champions. The men have won conference three consecutive years, giving them a program total of seven titles.
The women’s swimming team ha dominated the SCAC in recent times, winning conference eleven times in a row with a program total of 14 Conference Championships.
