By Jordan Parry, SDA Media Relations
COLORADO SPRINGS -- The Arizona State diving team entered Wednesday's final day of Zone E Qualifying from the United States Air Force Academcy in Colorado Springs, Colo. with two divers qualified for NCAA Championships. When it exited the venue to make the trip back to Tempe, the number of qualifiers had doubled.
"It's fantastic," Head Coach Mark Bradshaw said.
For the first time in their careers, junior Hunter Atha and freshman Mara Aiacoboae will advance to NCAA Championships later this month after scoring high enough on the platform finals.
Atha, the unsung leader of the Sun Devil diving squad, scored a 344.55 in the prelims, fifth highest of the 19 competitors and good enough to advance to the finals. To qualify for NCAA's, Atha would have to finish in the top eight in the finals, and he did just that, finishing in sixth place after accumulating a score of 658.75.
"Hunter dug in and stayed strong," Bradshaw said. "Because of that, he was able to qualify for his first NCAA's."
After barely missing out on qualifying for NCAA Championships on the first two days of competition, Aiacoboae soared to a second-place finish in the Women's Platform, her signature event, not only qualifying her for the platform event at NCAA's, but the 1-meter and 3-meter, as well.
In the prelims, Aiacoboae scored a 318.60, also good enough for second out of 34 divers. The spotlight associated with the finals didn't affect her, though, as she scored a 649.10, just less than seven points behind Haley Ishimatsu of USC, and 20 points higher than the third-place finisher. Both of Aiacoboae's scores on Wednesday were personal bests.
"Mara was outstanding," Bradshaw said.
Including Atha, Aiacoboae, senior Hailey Casper, and freshman David Hoffer, divers under head coach Mark Bradshaw have qualified for the NCAA Championships 25 times just in the last six years, cementing Bradshaw as one of the nation’s top diving coaches.
Casper and Aiacoboae will compete at the Women’s NCAA Championships, Mar. 19-21, in Greensboro, NC, while Atha and Hoffer will compete in the Men’s NCAA Championships, Mar. 26-28, in Iowa City, Iowa.