Printer-Friendly Format     E-mail this article     Senior Sam Stoner and five of his Irish teammates will trek to Columbus, Ohio, for the 2008 NCAA Zone C Diving meet this weekend.

 
Six Irish Divers Head To Ohio State For NCAA Zone C Meet

Notre Dame hopes to carry late season success in regional competition.

March 12, 2008

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The University of Notre Dame men's diving team will ship six divers to the 2008 NCAA Zone C meet held March 14-16 in Columbus, Ohio. The Irish will be represented in the three-day event by seniors Steven Crowe and Sam Stoner, junior Michael Bulfin, and freshmen Nathan Geary, Eric Lex, and Wesley Villaflor.

The six divers will be a handful of the approximately 90 divers from 24 schools that will compete at Ohio State's McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in one of five zone meets taking place this weekend around the country. Divers at each meet are vying for the chance to compete at their respective NCAA Championships. The NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championship will be held March 27-29 in Federal Way, Wash.

Live results for the meet will be available at divemeets.com. Complete stats and recap will be posted on und.com shortly after the completion of each day's competition.

"We've had divers perform very well at this meet in the past and this year should be no different," said Irish diving coach Caiming Xie. "They will be challenged by some very good divers from several great programs in this part of the country. But I'm expecting them to put together a solid performance. Our divers know what to expect and what it takes to do well at this meet."

Notre Dame enters the weekend after claiming the 2008 BIG EAST Conference title in late February, a meet in which the Irish took five of the top eight spots in the 1-meter event paced by Bulfin (second) and Lex (third).

In fact, Bulfin was joined by Crowe and Stoner at the 2007 NCAA Zone C meet. Stoner was seventh off the 1-meter board with Bulfin finishing one spot behind. Bulfin was also fifth in the 3-meter competition.

With his success in the 2006 NCAA Zone C meet, Bulfin was able to advance to the NCAA Championship where he punched in a top-20 finish off the 3-meter board.

Stoner and Bulfin placed second and third, respectively, in that same event during this season's league meet.

Bulfin's 2007-08 regular season was highlighted by breaking the school's 3-meter record on Jan. 18 against conference rival Louisville. His mark stood for less than 24 hours, as he eclipsed the score the next day at Northwestern with a score of 390.08.

Admission to the NCAA Zone C event is free. Doors will open to the general public 90 minutes before the start of each session.

Friday, March 14 - 1 p.m. - 1-meter (women) / 3-meter (men)
Saturday, March 15 - 1 p.m. - 1-meter (men) / 3-meter (women)
Sunday, March 16 - 11 a.m. - platform (men) / 30 minute break / platform (women)

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