LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Purdue divers competed another flawless qualification effort for the NCAA Championships as Maycey Vieta's victory on the platform highlighted the final day of the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships.
Maggie Merriman joined Vieta as Boilermakers to lock up their NCAA berths Tuesday. Vieta and Merriman finished 1-2 on the tower, with Merriman adding a second-place finish at Zones to the silver medal she won in the event at the Big Ten Championships.
Purdue finished the three-day qualifier 6-for-6 in individual berths and 10-for-10 in event qualifications for the NCAA Championships. Excluding the shutdown on day 1 of Zones last year, every Boilermaker that has competed at Zones has qualified for NCAAs every year since 2017.
Emily Bretscher and Greg Duncan finished seventh in their events Tuesday to add to their schedules at NCAAs. Bretscher qualified in all three events for the second time in her career. Duncan will compete on both springboards for the third time at the national championship meet. Both seniors finished top eight, good for a championship final berth at most meets with prelims and finals, in each of their events this week. They only needed to be top 12 Tuesday after auto-qualifying in their first events Sunday.
Purdue will be represented by three divers at both national championship meets. Together they'll give the Boilermakers an entry in every diving event. The Greensboro Aquatic Center in North Carolina is hosting both meets. The women's NCAAs is March 17 to 20 and the men's the following week, March 24 to 27. Six Purdue swimmers are expected to join Ben Bramley, Brandon Loschiavo and Duncan in North Carolina.
Vieta finished atop both the prelim and final as the cumulative scores carried over. She raced out to a great start with both lists. Her armstand in round 2 of both lists produced the top scores (62.4, 67.2) in the field. Her first dive of the day, a back 2 ½ twister, also produced the top score (70.4) in the field.
Vieta, Merriman and Duncan all improved on their prelim scores in the finals Tuesday. Merriman enjoyed a 25.8-point increase as she climbed from sixth place to second. Merriman's armstand in round 4 of the final produced the top score (70.4) among the field.
Duncan rose from 10th to seventh place on the leaderboard as he improved on his prelim score by 25.95 points in the final. But it was actually his dives in round 3 and 6 of the prelim that produced the top-ranked scores (64.5, 62) among the field in those rounds.
Duncan's brother, a freshman at Kentucky, also qualified for NCAAs for the first time with a sixth-place finish on 1-meter Tuesday.
PURDUE AT ZONE C CHAMPIONSHIPS – TUESDAY'S EVENTS
Women's Platform
Maycey Vieta, 582.70 (286.4 Prelim, 296.3 Final) – Event Winner; NCAAs Qualifier
Maggie Merriman, 536.30 (255.25 Prelim, 281.05 Final) – Finished 2nd; NCAAs Qualifier
Emily Bretscher, 496.55 (266.75 Prelim, 229.8 Final) – Finished 7th; NCAAs Qualifier
Men's 1-Meter
Greg Duncan, 638.95 (306.5 Prelim, 332.45 Final) – Finished 7th; NCAAs Qualifier
Maggie Merriman joined Vieta as Boilermakers to lock up their NCAA berths Tuesday. Vieta and Merriman finished 1-2 on the tower, with Merriman adding a second-place finish at Zones to the silver medal she won in the event at the Big Ten Championships.
Purdue finished the three-day qualifier 6-for-6 in individual berths and 10-for-10 in event qualifications for the NCAA Championships. Excluding the shutdown on day 1 of Zones last year, every Boilermaker that has competed at Zones has qualified for NCAAs every year since 2017.
Emily Bretscher and Greg Duncan finished seventh in their events Tuesday to add to their schedules at NCAAs. Bretscher qualified in all three events for the second time in her career. Duncan will compete on both springboards for the third time at the national championship meet. Both seniors finished top eight, good for a championship final berth at most meets with prelims and finals, in each of their events this week. They only needed to be top 12 Tuesday after auto-qualifying in their first events Sunday.
Purdue will be represented by three divers at both national championship meets. Together they'll give the Boilermakers an entry in every diving event. The Greensboro Aquatic Center in North Carolina is hosting both meets. The women's NCAAs is March 17 to 20 and the men's the following week, March 24 to 27. Six Purdue swimmers are expected to join Ben Bramley, Brandon Loschiavo and Duncan in North Carolina.
Vieta finished atop both the prelim and final as the cumulative scores carried over. She raced out to a great start with both lists. Her armstand in round 2 of both lists produced the top scores (62.4, 67.2) in the field. Her first dive of the day, a back 2 ½ twister, also produced the top score (70.4) in the field.
Vieta, Merriman and Duncan all improved on their prelim scores in the finals Tuesday. Merriman enjoyed a 25.8-point increase as she climbed from sixth place to second. Merriman's armstand in round 4 of the final produced the top score (70.4) among the field.
Duncan rose from 10th to seventh place on the leaderboard as he improved on his prelim score by 25.95 points in the final. But it was actually his dives in round 3 and 6 of the prelim that produced the top-ranked scores (64.5, 62) among the field in those rounds.
Duncan's brother, a freshman at Kentucky, also qualified for NCAAs for the first time with a sixth-place finish on 1-meter Tuesday.
PURDUE AT ZONE C CHAMPIONSHIPS – TUESDAY'S EVENTS
Women's Platform
Maycey Vieta, 582.70 (286.4 Prelim, 296.3 Final) – Event Winner; NCAAs Qualifier
Maggie Merriman, 536.30 (255.25 Prelim, 281.05 Final) – Finished 2nd; NCAAs Qualifier
Emily Bretscher, 496.55 (266.75 Prelim, 229.8 Final) – Finished 7th; NCAAs Qualifier
Men's 1-Meter
Greg Duncan, 638.95 (306.5 Prelim, 332.45 Final) – Finished 7th; NCAAs Qualifier