IU sends 4 divers to NCAA Championships after Zone C sweep

After a dominating performance at the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships from March 8-10, the IU’s men’s swimming and diving team has much to cheer about.

In addition to sweeping the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform dives, the Hoosiers will send four of their elite competitors to Federal Way, Wash., for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships from Thursday through Saturday.

The Hoosiers qualified their first two divers March 8, when sophomore Darian Schmidt won the 3-meter title with a score of 769.90 on 12 dives.

Following Schmidt’s performance, junior Zac Nees finished third with a score of 753.15, also good enough to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

The next day, Nees secured his first career Zone C title and his eighth win of the season, sealing the 1-meter title with 761.75 points. Junior Mick Dell’Orco also qualified for the NCAA Championships, as he finished third with 709.35 points.

On the final day of competition, sophomore Conor Murphy clinched his first career NCAA berth, winning the platform dive by a resounding 86.95-point margin.

Murphy’s score of 847.65 also meant he averaged more than 70 points per dive, indicating a near-flawless performance.

The four divers leave today, and will join the six IU swimmers in the Seattle metro area for the championship competition. The last IU men’s diver to win an NCAA title was Mark Lenzi more than 20 years ago in 1990. That year, he won the 1-meter dive, his second of two consecutive championships.

— Jordan Littman