Divers set for Zone Championships

FAYETTEVILLE — Two University of Arkansas divers will travel to College Station, Texas, this weekend for the NCAA Zone “D” Diving Championships at the Student Rec Center Natatorium on the campus of Texas A&M University. Sophomores Liana Bugslag and Alex Roman will compete at the meet in an attempt to qualify themselves for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. “We are looking forward to the opportunity,” Arkansas diving coach Dale Schultz said. “We have the toughest conference but we also have the toughest zone. It is going to be a tough contest in all three events.”The three-day meet will begin Friday with the 1-meter diving event. Divers will compete in the 3-meter springboard event Saturday and platform diving will close the championships Sunday morning. Preliminaries are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. each day with finals set for 1 p.m.At last years’ championships, both divers competed but failed to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Bugslag finished eighth in the platform diving with a score of 434.40 while Roman placed 16th with a mark of 294.40. Both placed in the top 20 on the 1- and 3-meter. “I think that experience was good,” Schultz said. “You want to get the divers into competition early and let them develop so when they are sophomores, juniors and seniors they are ready. Liana is much more comfortable on platform. They are both just more prepared. They have had a year to grow and adjust to the collegiate system, which is important.” Twelve total divers from all three events will qualify for the NCAA Championships meet, March 18-20, in West Lafayette, Ind.