Three More Spots at Nationals Secured on Final Day of NCAA Zones

Wednesday, March 13

Flagstaff, AZ

University of Utah

NCAA Diving Zone E

Photo by: Chuck Arelei

Three More Spots at Nationals Secured on Final Day of NCAA Zones

3/13/2024 6:26 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Waxman, Grant, Petersen lock up one more spot at NCAA Championships

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The University of Utah diving team finished off the NCAA Zone E Championships with another phenomenal day that say them lock up three more opportunities to compete at the NCAA Championships on Wednesday at the Northern Arizona Aquatic Complex in Flagstaff, Arizona.

"Without a doubt, this was the best zone meet we've ever had as a team," said head diving coach Richard Marschner. "I can't overstate how hard it is to come to this meet and perform as well as we did. We entered 11 events and qualified to NCAAs in 10 of them. Sydney nearly set a personal-best at the most difficultly judged meet of the year and was in the mix the entire time. She had come such a long way and I am so happy with her performance.

"Holly, Kathryn and Elias all stepped up big time today, even though I know they were extremely tired. Their resilience and determination to compete and compete hard throughout this meet is what separated our team from others this week. We showed that we're the toughest and certainly one of the best teams in the country. We can't wait for nationals!"

All three Utes competing in the women's platform prelims reached finals, with Holly Waxman recording the highest score at 232.45, placing seventh. Kathryn Grant put up 229.30 points to finish 12th and Sydney Kowalski's total of 223.55 allowed her to take 14th.

In the final, Waxman upped her point total to 266.85 to climb up to third and Grant improved her mark to 251.60, permitting her to maintain her hold on seventh and allowing both Utes to secure their third spot at Nationals. Kowalski's finals score was 228.95, landing her in 14th, less than seven points off her personal-best.

This will be Waxman's second consecutive year competing in three events at the NCAA Championships.

Elias Petersen collected 10th-place in the prelims of the men's 1m 315.50 points, then he upped that score to 336.75 in the final. That mark sent him soaring up the leaderboard into fourth and officially secured a 1m spot at the National Championships for the Swedish sophomore.

Up Next
Waxman, Grant and Emilia Nilsson Garip will get their chance to compete at Nationals first at the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships on March 20-23 at the Jack Bauerle Pool at the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Georgia. Petersen will be joined by Utah swimmer Jaek Horner at the Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, which are set for March 27-30 at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.

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