The University of Alabama swimming and diving team will send three of its student athletes to the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships starting Saturday at Jones Aquatic Center in Knoxville, TN, as they hope to reach finals in both the springboard and platform events.
The Crimson Tide hope to improve on their Southeastern Conference Championship diving performances just two weeks ago, which featured junior Robby Costine taking 14th in the men’s platform dive with a season best score, and fellow junior Christina Lu finishing 13th in the women’s platform event, also good enough to rank as the school’s best performance of the season.
The third member who will compete at the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships is David Morton, the veteran of the group as a senior diver at Alabama.
“We’ve probably exceeded expectations in recent years and this was a little bit of a wake-up call,” Alabama coach Dennis Pursley said in a press release. “This is the kind of team that will respond well to that and get stronger and better because of it.”
The Zone B Championships should provide the divers the opportunity to take on coach Pursley’s challenge and put up personal and season bests in hopes of making the finals in each event.
When asked about his expectations for himself this weekend, Morton said, “I’m just looking to be consistent, as long as I do that I’ll be happy.”
While Morton’s primary focus for his performance was constancy, he also expressed great faith in his teammates skills and ability to put up solid performances over the course of the meet.
“I think we’ll send at least one of us to a final, between the springboard and platform events,” Morton said. “I think [Robby Costine] has a chance in both the springboard and the platform.”
Costine holds the top scores in the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard, as well as the platform for the Crimson Tide men, with his best platform dive coming in the SEC Championships. An improvement could send him into the final and provide the chance to work toward a top 10 finish.
As the only female to qualify, Christina Lu will represent the UA in the women’s platform, hoping to improve on her SEC Championship dive and participate in the women’s final.
The Crimson Tide will begin diving on Saturday and the event will run through Tuesday.
