Four Texas A&M divers qualified for the NCAA Championships at the Zone D Diving Championships at the University of Minnesota on March 5-7.
The men’s trio of senior Tyler Henschel, freshman Kurtis Mathews, and junior Sam Thornton all qualified in two events: the one-meter dive and the three-meter dive. Henschel led the group in the three-meter in third place with 826.95 points. He also added ninth place in the one-meter with 682.05 points.
Mathews earned sixth place finishes in both events with 714.80 and 775.30 points. Thornton placed third in the one-meter with 748.10 points and seventh in the three-meter with 770.70 points.
The addition of these three divers gives Texas A&M its largest ever men’s team national meet roster with 14 competitors.
The women also had a qualifier at the meet. Junior Alais Kalonji finished the platform dive in third place with 568.60 points. Kalonji, who was the 2018 Southeastern Conference champion in the event, will join sixteen other Aggie women at the NCAA Championships next week.
Several other Texas A&M divers competed at the meet, but barely missed the qualifying cut.
Kalonji also performed in the three-meter diving event, finishing in 17th place with 528.15 points. Freshmen Kaja Skrzek and Harper Walding competed in the three-meter dive, coming in at 12th and 17th place.
Junior Skylar Lake competed in both the one-meter and three-meter, finishing 13th and 14th respectively.
The men’s NCAA Championships will take place March 21-24 at the University of Minnesota. The women will compete March 14-17 at Ohio State University.
