IU divers look to qualify for NCAA meet

At the Big Ten championships two weeks ago, the IU men’s diving squad struggled on the 1-meter board, failing to qualify anyone in the finals. However, with a renewed attention to detail and mental preparation, diving coach Jeff Huber believes the Hoosiers are ready to return to their winning ways at the NCAA Zone C Diving meet. \n“We are usually pretty dominant on the 1-meter,” Huber said at a recent practice. “Big Tens was really a wake-up call. We were doing the little things wrong in practice and they showed up in the meet.”\nIU will dive in the NCAA Zone C meet March 2-4 at Canham Natatorium in Ann Arbor, Mich. \nAll four IU divers qualified to compete in the meet – juniors Taylor Roberts and David Legler, freshman David Piercy and sophomore Will Bohonyi. The meet will serve as a qualifier for the NCAA championships that take place March 15-17 in Minneapolis.\nAfter a second place performance on the platform at the Big Ten meet, Legler believes he can have a repeat performance this weekend.\n“It was a really good experience to perform well in a big meet like the Big Tens,” he said. “If I take one dive at a time and keep calm, I’ll do well.”\nAside from the physical training this week, Coach Huber has emphasized the mental aspect of the teams’ diving. \n“We brought in the sports psychologist for USA Diving,” Huber said. “Our divers had a nice question and answer session with him and I think it really reminded the divers of some important points. As the stakes go up so does the anxiety. We just want to be aggressive and confident and do our thing.”\nWhile the men’s squad struggled a bit at Big Tens, the women’s squad flourished. \nAfter helping the women’s swimming and diving team to its first Big Ten title since 2003, the Hoosier diving squad will have its eyes on a higher prize as they compete at the NCAA Zone C meet. \n“At the end of the season, we traditionally train hard for the zone meet,” Huber said. “It was great winning the Big Tens, but a lot of our divers are focused on competing for an NCAA championship.”\nIU qualified all of its divers to compete in the meet this weekend for a spot in the NCAA Championships that take place March 8-10 for the women’s side. \nThe Hoosiers will carry momentum from the Big Ten meet into this weekend as many divers had strong performances. \nJunior Christina Loukas swept the diving events, the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform, earning Diver of the Championships. Senior Lindsay Weigle finished second on the platform and fourth on the 3-meter. Freshman Brittney Feldman placed third on the three-meter and senior Heather Chapman placed fourth on the platform. \nHuber hopes the women’s team can maintain its focus and improve on its diving from the Big Ten meet. \n“We have been rehearsing a meet schedule all week long,” he said. “We’ve been identifying some of our weaknesses from Big Tens. With a week to zero in on our mistakes, hopefully we can correct them for this weekend.”\nAfter a hard week of training, Chapman believes it will pay off this weekend. \n“Coach Huber has us really prepared to take on the challenges we will face at this meet,” Chapman said. “I think rehearsing the meet schedules will really help, especially with such a big team. It allows us to prepare for a competitive atmosphere.”