ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– Navy's Meghan Gerdes (So., Spring, Texas), Hannah Montau (Fr., Germantown, Md.) and Jake Hedrick (So., Hummelstown, Pa.) earned berths into the NCAA Championship with their respective performances in platform diving Wednesday at the NCAA Zone A Diving Championship at Lejeune Hall in Annapolis.

Earlier in the zone meet, Navy's Bradley Buchter (Jr., Hickory, N.C.) qualified for both springboard events at the men's national championship.

"I knew coming into today that we had a pretty good chance at getting all three divers in (to the NCAA Championship)," said Navy diving coach Rich MacDonald.  "I knew it would take consistency and some luck on our side to do so, and it all happened.

"Neither Megan or Hannah missed a dive.  They really crushed their dives and I think that set the tone for Jake to have a good day as well."

Gerdes scored 505.60 points over the course of her 10 platform dives to place second overall and Montau amassed 470.75 points to place third in the women's competition.  The divers with the top-five scores in platform diving at Zone A qualified for the NCAA Championship, March 21-23 in Austin, Texas.  

Gerdes will also compete in the three-meter springboard event and Montau will compete in the one-meter competition at the national championship by virtue of their finishing among the top-12 divers on the respective boards during the zone meet.  Gerdes placed eighth in Monday's three-meter event and Montau finished in 12th place in Tuesday's one-meter contest.

"It was amazing to watch," said MacDonald of Wednesday's efforts by Gerdes and Montau.  "They were always in the qualifying positions throughout the competition.  I was waiting for a miss here or there, but I never saw one."

Hedrick needed to place among the top-four divers in the platform competition to punch his ticket to the NCAA Men's Championship, slated for March 28-30 and also in Austin, Texas.  He totaled 673.30 points over his 12 dives to earn the fourth and final berth into the championship by 7.8 points.

"Jake has been struggling on tower for pretty much a year," said MacDonald.  "He has been doing great warm-ups but not competing real well.  I think it just took some time for him to get those nerves out and realize he could dive well.  After prelims when he was still in the hunt, I think that gave him the confidence he needed.  He had a great finals and moved from seventh to fourth."

Since Navy's women's team moved to the NCAA Division I ranks starting with the 1991-92 season, only two previous divers from the program have advanced to the national championship: Stacia Johnson qualified for the 1993 event and Darcy Stuart competed in both the 1994 and '96 meets.

The lone other women's diver to represent a Patriot League-member school at the championship is Army's Chelsea Haviland in 2006.

Also making the trip to Texas will be Navy women's swimmers Lauren Barber (Sr., New Wilmington, Pa.) and Martina Thomas (Fr., Fayetteville, Ark.).  Barber is entered into the 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke and 200 individual medley events and Thomas is slated to compete in the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle events.

The four qualifiers are the most the Mids have advanced to a single Division I women's championship.  Navy previously qualified two Mids in both 2009 and '10 when swimmers Thuy-Mi Dinh and Tara Chapmon advanced to the national meet.

This is the fourth time in school history and the first since 1996 in which Navy will send two men's divers to the NCAA Championship.  The additional years in which Navy sent two men's divers to the national championship were 1946, 1952 and 1983.

NCAA Zone A Diving Championship – Navy Results
Monday
Men's 1M – 3rd, Bradley Buchter (737.65); 14th, Jake Hedrick (582.40)
Women's 3M – 8th, Meghan Gerdes (545.50); 14th, Hannah Montau (518.90)
Tuesday
Women's 1M – 12th, Hannah Montau (504.50)
Men's 3M – 4th, Bradley Buchter (757.70); 9th, Jake Hedrick (663.45); 20th, Nash Nickerson (291.20)
Wednesday
Men's Platform – 4th, Jake Hedrick (673.30)
Women's Platform – 2nd, Meghan Gerdes (505.60); 3rd, Hannah Montau (470.75)