The Iowa State Swim and Dive team looked to impress this weekend in a plethora of different dives and had some good performances from both the upperclassmen and underclassmen.
Monday, March 9
The first day of the NCAA Zone Diving Qualifications had some highlights and some stellar moments as the 1-meter dives took place in College Station, Texas.
The Cyclones had all six of their qualified divers compete in the 1-meter dive. All of the divers competed in the preliminary round of the opening dive, each diver attempting six dives from 1 meter up. Each of the dives is judged by its net score and the degree of difficulty for each dive, which are multiplied together to give an overall score.
Sophomore Abby Tollefson led the way for Iowa State, placing 32nd out of 61 total divers, achieving a total score of 245.10 and scoring the most in the reverse 1 ½ somersault pike and the forward 2 ½ somersault pike. Sophomore Maggie Bendell trailed just behind Tollefson, finishing in 33rd place, scoring 243.65 and, like Tollefson, had a great showing in the reverse 1 ½ somersault pike, where she got 19 of her total points from that round of diving.
Freshman Iona Moffat and senior Kate Mitchell also kept each other company, with Moffat finishing in 37th place and Mitchell finishing right behind her in 38th place. Moffat scored 239, with Mitchell getting 238.10.
Wrapping up day one, senior Ally Blumenfeld and freshman Jade Hazes finished next to each other, with Blumenfeld scoring 223.80 points on the six dives and finishing in 49th place. Hazes finished in 50th place, scoring 223.75 points in the 1-meter prelims.
Tuesday, March 10th
Day two in Texas featured the preliminary 3-meter dives for the Cyclones. Each diver was given a total of six dives, the same as the 1-meter dive. The Cyclones again finished with a similar placing as the 1-meter dive.
Bendell and Mitchell were the top divers in the 3-meter for Iowa State, with Bendell placing 31st overall with a score of 260.50 and Mitchell placing 33rd overall, earning a final score of 258.25. Bendell did well in both the Reverse 2 ½ somersault tuck and the Inward 2 ½ somersault tuck, placing 26th in those respective dives.
Mitchell differed from Bendell in displaying her strongest performances in the Back 1 ½ somersault 1 ½ twist free dive and the Back 2 ½ somersault Tuck dive.
Moffat had an overall place of 40th in the 3-meter dive and specialized in the fourth dive of the six dives, the Reverse 2 ½ somersault Tuck. Moffat netted a score of 51.80, which placed her 12th among the 52 divers for that round. Moffat finished with an overall score of 251.20.
Blumenfeld scored 248.75 and placed 42nd, closely behind Moffat and Hazes finished in 48th place, with a score of 229.10.
Wednesday, March 11th
The final day of the NCAA Zone Diving Qualifications featured platform diving. Iowa State sent two divers, Blumenfeld and Mitchell, to compete in the final competition.
Mitchell showed a solid performance in platform diving, scoring 220.30 in her five dives, narrowly missing the finals round for platform diving.
Blumenfeld finished in 26th place, scoring a total of 205.65 through five dives. This put a bow on the Iowa State swim and dive season.
