SAN DIEGO – Five San Diego State divers will be vying for automatic qualification to the national meet this week when they compete in the NCAA Zone E Championships, March 6-8, in Federal Way, Washington.
The Aztec trio of Valentina Lopez Arevalo, Ximena Lechuga Gonzalez and Emma Duggan will participate in all three upcoming events at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center—the 1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard and platform—while Summer Westmoreland will perform in the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard. In addition, the Aztec delegation features Taylor Konopacke, who will dive in the platform competition.
The 2023 Zone E Championships commence on Monday with the 3-meter springboard, followed by platform diving on Tuesday, and 1-meter springboard action on Wednesday. Preliminaries are slated to begin at 11:30 a.m. PT each day.
Divers that finish in the top six for 1-meter, top eight for 3-meter, and top-eight for platform will automatically qualify for NCAA Championships, set for March 15-18 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Individuals who earn an automatic qualification in one event and finish among the top-12 in another will secure NCAA qualification in that event as well.
In 2022, Lopez Arevalo qualified for the NCAA Championships in the platform after placing ninth at the Zone E meet in Flagstaff, Arizona, with an aggregate score of 484.20 points.
Lopez Arevalo took home the gold medal in the platform at the Mountain West Championships with a school record 350.15 points, which ranks second in conference history. The SDSU sophomore also set a season high with 298.35 points in the 1-meter event in a dual meet vs. San Diego on Jan. 27 before accomplishing the same feat with 307.90 points in the 3-meter competition at Northern Arizona's Lumberjack Invitational on Feb. 3.
Lechuga Gonzalez will be competing at the NCAA Zone E Championships for the fifth year in a row, qualifying for the national meet in all three events in 2021, highlighted by a second-place finish in the 3-meters and a third-place standing in the 1-meter.
Lechuga Gonzalez earned all-Mountain West honors in all three diving competitions with season-high scores at the conference championships last month. The Aztec senior finished third in the 3-meters (338.95 pts), fourth in the platform (270.25 pts) and fifth in the 1-meter (328.80 pts.).
Meanwhile, sophomores Westmoreland and Duggan will be making their second straight trip to the NCAA Zone E Championships.
Westmoreland garnered all-MW accolades last month after finishing eighth in the finals of the 1-meter event at the conference championships with a season-best total of 294.45 points. Additionally, she set a career-high with 287.70 points in the 3-meters at the Lumberjack Invitational.
Duggan took fourth in the consolation finals of the 1-meter competition at the MW Championship and 12th overall with a season-best 265.60 points. She also established a career-high with 235.50 points in the platform finals at the CBU Lancer Invitational last December when she placed fourth as well. In addition, Duggan compiled a collegiate-best 310.15 points in the 3-meter finals at the Lumberjack Invitational to finish fifth.
Rounding out the Aztec contingent this week is Konopacke, a freshman who placed third in the platform consolation finals at the MW Championships and 11th overall with a season-high 227.05 points.
The University of Utah will serve as host for the 2023 NCAA Zone E Championships. Along with the Utes, SDSU will compete against divers from Arizona, Arizona State, Brigham Young, California Baptist, Colorado State, Denver, Fresno State, Grand Canyon, Hawai'i, Nevada, New Mexico State, Northern Arizona, Pepperdine, San Diego, San José State, Stanford, UCLA, UNLV, USC and Wyoming.
A link to live results via DiveMeets.com will be available on GoAztecs.com.
San Diego State has already advanced three swimmers to the NCAA Championships: Christiana Williams (100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke), Alex Roberts (100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 100 butterfly) and Kristina Murphy (200 breaststroke, 200 IM, 400 IM).
Five Aztecs to Compete at NCAA Zone E Championships
