Thirteen NCAC student-athletes participated in the 2015 NCAA
Division III Diving Regionals, held last weekend, February 27-28.
Divers from Denison, DePauw, Kenyon and Wittenberg competed at the
Region I event held at the University of Chicago’s
Myers-McLoraine Pool, while Allegheny divers traveled to New York
for the Region 4 event, held at SUNY-Geneseo’s Alumni
Pool.
In total, five men’s divers and one women’s diver from
the North Coast have unofficially qualified to compete at the 2014
NCAA Div. III Swimming & Diving Championships, set for March
18-21, at the CISD Natatorium in Shenandoah, Texas.
Kenyon junior Maria Zarka (Kanoehe, HI/Kalaheo)
{pictured} was the league’s lone female to qualify for the
national meet after she swept both boards in Chicago over the
weekend with winning scores of 523.90 (one meter) and 524.05 (three
meter). Denison sophomore Sarah Lopez (Vernon Hills,
IL/Vernon Hills) and Wittenberg freshman Kaitlyn
Black (Fort Wayne, IN/Homestead) also competed at the
Chicago regional. Lopez finished 16th (421.00) on the
one-meter board and 26th (395.20) in the three-meter competition,
while Black was 25th (393.25) in the one-meter competition and 28th
(383.30) on the three-meter board.
In addition, the Allegheny duo of junior Erica Salizzoni
(McMurray, PA/Peters Twp.) and freshman Rachel
Steiner (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) were in action at
SUNY-Geneseo over the weekend. In the one- meter event, Salizzoni
finished 16th overall with 349.85 points and Steiner placed 29th
with 301.25 points. Salizzoni then went on to finish 24th overall
on the three-meter board with 303.10 points.
On the men’s side, five Denison divers have qualified to
compete at the national meet, led by senior Connor Dignan
(Phoenix, AZ/Desert Vista), who earned regional titles on
both boards after tallying 557.75 points on the one-meter board and
638.35 points in the three-meter competition. Also qualifying for
the national meet from Denison was sophomore Max Levy
(Sammamish, WA/Skyline), junior Ben Lewis (Oak
Park, IL/Oak Park-River Forest), sophomore Brian
Allen (Flagstaff, AZ/Flagstaff) and junior Nathan
Lightman (Libertyville, IL/Vernon Hills).
In the three-meter competition, Levy finished second overall with
571.35 points, followed by Allen in sixth (550.35), Lewis in
seventh (546.25), junior Connor Dorff (Ambler, PA/Chestnut
Hill Acad.) in 10th (512.45), Lightman in 14th (474.30),
Kenyon sophomore Derek Hoare (San Clemente, CA/Capistrano
Valley) in 25th (404.55) and DePauw freshman Eric
Addy (Grosee Pointe, MI/South) in 27th (374.70).
Levy also followed Dignan in the men’s one-meter competition
in Chicago, finishing third overall with 517.75 points. He was
followed by Lewis in fifth (510.65), Allen in sixth (502.40),
Lightman in seventh (500.05), Dorff in ninth (493.45), Hoare in
21st (429.70) and Addy in 25th (396.30).