This Week in Michigan Women's Swimming & Diving #4
11/18/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
Nov. 18, 2014
THIS WEEK
Thu-Sat., Nov. 20-22 -- at Nike Dowd Cup - Diving Only (Chapel Hill, N.C.), 11 a.m./5:30 p.m.
Live Results
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Five divers from the No. 6-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team will be in action at the Dowd Nike Cup, slated for Thursday through Saturday (Nov. 20-22) inside the Maurice J. Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill, N.C. Preliminaries will begin at 11 a.m. on all three days, with finals starting at 5:30 p.m. for both three-meter (Thursday) and one-meter (Friday). There will not be finals for platform on Saturday, which is U-M's season debut on the tower.
The divers will look to secure qualifying scores for the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships, to be held March 12-14 in Columbus, Ohio. The top finishers at Zones will go on to compete at the NCAA Championships, scheduled for March 27-29 in Iowa City, Iowa.
WHO'S ATTENDING
Five divers will be competing for Michigan this weekend: senior Carey Chen, juniors Elena Ghormley and Sarah Kamstra, sophomore Keegan McCaffrey and freshman Juliette Corboy.
In addition to Michigan, divers from 10 other schools will be participating: North Carolina, North Carolina State, Tennessee, James Madison, Navy, Air Force, Duke, Georgia Southern, East Carolina and Old Dominion.
DIVER NOTES
• Senior Carey Chen is the only current Wolverine with experience at the NCAA Championships after qualifying for the meet in 2014. She is a two-time Big Ten Diver of the Week (Oct. 2, 2012; Oct. 1, 2013). She has a trio of career bests in U-M's all-time top-10: fifth on one-meter (311.10), sixth on platform (273.00) and seventh on three-meter (321.65). At the 2014 Big Ten Championships, Chen took sixth on platform and eighth on both one-meter and three-meter. She recently swept the springboards in tri-meet against Penn State and Virginia (Nov. 7-8).
• Freshman Juliette Corboy made her collegiate debut against Iowa and Nebraska on Oct. 3-4. She has competed at each of Michigan's first three meets. Currently her collegiate bests are 256.25 on one-meter and 268.30 on three-meter; she has yet to compete on platform.
• Junior Elena Ghormley qualified for the 2014 Zone Diving Championships on all three boards, finishing as high as 13th on platform. She also competed at the 2014 Big Ten Championships, highlighted by her 19th-place finish on platform.
• Junior Sarah Kamstra qualified for the 2014 Zone Diving Championships on all three boards, finishing as high as 12th on platform. She also scored on both springboards at the Big Ten Championships, taking 13th on three-meter and 14th on one-meter. She recently took second place on one-meter against Penn State and Virginia (Nov. 7-8).
• Sophomore Keegan McCaffrey has competed in all three meets for Michigan this season. She set a new personal best on one-meter against Indiana, Louisville and Texas: 260.60 (Oct. 24-25). McCaffrey competed at the 2014 Big Ten Championships, highlighted by taking 24th on three-meter.
ZONE DIVING QUALIFYING PROCEDURES
To qualify for the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships, divers must score at least 265.00 on one-meter, 280.00 on three-meter and 225 on platform.
Through three meets, both Chen and Kamstra have achieved NCAA Zone Diving qualifying marks on both one-meter and three-meter. U-M has not competed on platform yet this season.
NEW NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFYING PROCEDURES
There are new qualification procedures for the NCAA Championships. At Zones, the top five female and top four male divers on each event at each zone competition will automatically qualify.
Additional place finishers in each event at each zone will be eligible based on the number of student-athletes from that zone who finished in the top 16 in that event at the previous year's NCAA Championships. All eligible divers must have achieved the zone qualifying score prior to the NCAA Championships in all events they wish to participate. For the men, Zone C is allotted five spots on one-meter, eight on three-meter and six on platform. For the women, it is eight spots on one-meter, nine on three-meter and eight on platform.
Any diver that qualifies to the NCAA Championships will be allowed to optionally enter any other event(s) at the championships, provided that the diver finished in the top 12 at the same zone meet and has achieved the zone qualifying score for that event prior to the NCAA Championships.
NEW COACH
The divers are under the direction of new coach Mike Hilde. Prior to his arrival in Ann Arbor, Hilde spent three years coaching with the Mission Viejo Nadadores in Mission Viejo, Calif., where he served as National/International Team Director and an assistant coach. In September, he served on USA Diving's coaching staff at the 2014 FINA World Junior Championships in Penza, Russia.
Hilde was a four-time NCAA Championships qualifier at USC (2004-07). He was an NCAA All-American in 2006 (three-meter). [ Hilde's Bio Page]
KIMBALL RETURNS
Joining Hilde in the diving well is former head diving coach Dick Kimball, who is back on deck with the men's and women's programs as one a volunteer assistant. Kimball coached at Michigan for 43 years (1960-2002) and added eight more as a volunteer (2003-10). He was an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic Team at five Olympic Games. [ Release ]
RANKING
Michigan is currently ranked No. 6 in the most-recent poll from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA), released Nov. 6. California claimed the top spot.
The rankings, compiled by nine CSCAA-member coaches and one media member, are not designed to predict the results of the NCAA Championship but rather which teams would win head-to-head against other teams in the country. [ Poll ]
LAST TIME OUT
Michigan (5-2, 4-0) maintained its flawless record in Big Ten duals by narrowly defeating No. 20 Penn State, 178-175, but fell to Virginia, 184.50-168.50, in State College, Pa. Carey Chen won both springboard events and set a new career best in three-meter at 321.65. Junior swimmers Ali DeLoof and Marni Oldershaw each picked up event wins, and U-M continued to show strong team depth to pile up points when not winning events. [ Recaps: Day One | Day Two ]
UP NEXT
The swimmers will remain training in Ann Arbor, readying for the U.S. Winter National Championships, set to be held Dec. 3-6 in Greensboro, N.C. This meet serves as the team's midseason meet in which the swimmers will attempt to get as many NCAA 'A' and 'B' times as possible. Last season, U-M swimmers left their midseason meet with 24 NCAA 'B' cuts.
Wed-Sat., Dec. 3-6 -- at U.S. Winter National Championships (Greensboro, N.C.), 9 a.m./6 p.m.
Communications Contact: Michael Kasiborski (734) 763-4423
