Divers to Compete at NCAA Zone B Championships
3/10/2005 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Six Alabama divers will by vying for bids to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at this weekend's NCAA Zone B Diving Championships at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Ga.
While the swimmers qualify to the national championships through time standards, divers compete for their spots through a regional format. For Alabama's men, senior Stewart Smith, junior Aaron Ashworth and sophomore Alan Harris will be competing for one of 13 available spots out of Zone B. on the women's side, Junior Crystal Rasmussen along with sophomores Jenna Hastreiter and Karissa Tuthill will be going for one of 11 women's spots.
Zone B is one of the nation's tougher regions, features, among others, Alabama, Miami, Tennessee, Virginia Auburn , Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and LSU. The competition starts off Friday (March 11) with the men's one-meter competition and the women's three-meter. On Saturday, the men will compete off the three-meter board and the women will go off the one-meter and on Sunday, both men and women will compete off the platform.
The divers have the opportunity to compete on all three diving events. A formula based on an athlete's placing on the individual events will determine who advances to the NCAA Championships. Smith, Ashworth and Rasmussen have all earned bids before and all three have been named All-American as well.
Ashworth finaled in all three events at the Southeastern Conference Championships earlier this season, including a fourth place finish off the platform. At last year's NCAA Championships, he scored off the three-meter board, earning honorable mention All-American honors in the process.
Smith was a finalist off the one-meter board and the platform and scored off the three-meter at SECs. Smith scored at the NCAA Championships as a freshman and sophomore. He earned All-American honors of the one-meter board as a rookie and honorable mention All-American recognition in the one-meter and platform events as a sophomore. Harris scored off the three-meter and platform at the SEC Championships this year.
On the women's side, Hastreiter was the SEC runner-up off the platform and finaled off the one-meter board. She also scored off the three-meter. Tuthill scored at SECs off the platform.
Rasmussen was an SEC finalist off the one-meter board and scored off the three-meter. As a sophomore, she scored off the one-meter board at the NCAA Championships, earning honorable mention All-American honors in the process.
