SPRINGFIELD - Tufts junior Johann Schmidt (Nanuet, NY) restated his position as the region's best diver and will now have the opportunity to reclaim his spot as national champion when he competes at NCAA's March 20-23 in Texas.
Using a new procedure to determine the divers who will qualify for Nationals, the NCAA's Zone Diving Qualifer brought together the region's top scorers from the 2012-13 season at Springfield College Friday and Saturday (Mar. 1-2). Schmidt won off both boards, scoring 588.95 in three-meter on Friday and 543.20 in one-meter on Saturday.
The performance was a strong response by Schdmit after he did not win both titles at the NESCAC meet for the first time in his career. He was a close second behind Amherst's Colin White in the conference one-meter championship. Schdmit was back on top of both boards this weekend against a field of the Northeast region's best.
Kenny Pencoast from Springfield was second on both boards. Eight divers and two alternates in total qualified for NCAA's out of the Springfield zone. Eighteen divers in all competed at the zone qualifier.
Next for Schmidt is the defense of his NCAA title in one-meter diving, won last year in Indianapolis. He heads to Shenandoah, Texas, as teams and individuals compete at Conroe Natatorium for the national title.
One-meter results
Three-meter results
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