Four Iowa divers qualify for NCAA Zone Diving Championships

Sarah Ballard, Simone Beinlich, Makayla Hughbanks, and Geneva Pauly will represent the Hawkeyes in Houston.

March 6, 2024

Iowa’s Simone Beinlich does a trick off the 3 meter diving board during a swim meet between Iowa and Northern Iowa at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. The Hawkeyes defeated the Panthers 196.5-103.5. Beinlich placed first off the 3 meter diving board with a score of 262.30.

Four members of the Iowa swimming and diving team qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships in Houston, Texas, on March 11-13.

Sarah Ballard, Simone Beinlich, Makayla Hughbanks, and Geneva Pauly will represent the Hawkeyes in Zone D and compete at the University of Houston Campus Recreation & Wellness Center.

All four Hawkeyes will compete in the one-meter dive. Ballard, Beinlich, and Hughbanks will also participate in the three-meter dive. Pauly, the Hawkeyes’ platform specialist, will compete in the tower dive.

To qualify for the Zone Diving Championships, competitors must hit the required diving score in any bona fide collegiate competition or the United States National Diving Championships. The number of spots allocated to each zone is dependent on how the teams from those zones performed at last year’s NCAA Championship meet, according to SwimSwam. Zone D includes other states like Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Texas, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin.

Divers will qualify for the NCAA Championships based on performances at their respective zone meet. The top 18 divers will move on from the preliminaries to the finals. In the one-meter dive, the top 11 qualify for the NCAA meet. The top nine divers in the three-meter and platform dives will advance out of Zone D to the NCAA Championships.

“I am excited for our group to compete at the Championships,” diving coach Todd Waikel told Hawkeye Sports. “This is a great opportunity for our divers to earn a spot at NCAA’s. I am confident in their abilities and am looking forward to a great meet.”

Season bests, per Hawkeye Sports

One-meter dive

Hughbanks – 312.60
Ballard – 303.38
Pauly – 286.35
Beinlich – 276.30

Three-meter dive

Hughbanks – 356.93
Ballard – 319.55
Beinlich – 291.80

Platform dive

Pauly – 232.10

About the Contributors

Kenna Roering, Sports Editor

she/her/hers

Kenna Roering is The Daily Iowan's sports editor. She is a junior at the University of Iowa majoring in journalism with a minor in sports and recreation management. Kenna previously worked as a sports reporter for men's wrestling and volleyball and was the summer sports editor in 2023. This is her second year with the DI.

Carly Schrum, Photojournalist

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Carly is a freshman majoring in Journalism and Mass Communication and potentially majoring in sustainability. She works at the Daily Iowan as a photojournalist.