ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– Seven members of the Navy diving teams will travel to Morgantown, W. Va., early this week to compete in the NCAA Zone A Diving Championship. The event, to be held at West Virginia's Aquatic Center at Mylan Park and running Monday through Wednesday, will determine the NCAA Championship qualifiers for the region.
 
"It is great to have qualified seven divers for the zone meet, with five of them returning to the championship," said Navy diving coach Rich MacDonald.  "Those limited NCAA Championship-qualifying spots become harder and harder to earn each year as the zone just keeps improving.  But we are excited to measure ourselves against the best our zone has to offer.  It is what we have worked toward all season long, and we are glad the meet is finally upon us."
 
NCAA schools are divided into five zones for diving based upon geographical location.  Zone A consists of schools in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
 
A total of 121 divers from the region are entered into the meet. The seven Mids have qualified to compete in a combined 16 events over the course of the championship.  This year's seven zone qualifiers from Navy follows the Mids having sent five divers to the 2018 and '19 meets, four to the 2015, '16 and '17 meets and two to the 2014 meet.
 
Qualifying divers will perform six dives, then the field will be cut to the top-18 divers.  Those advancing divers will perform six more dives, with the scores from all 12 efforts combined to produce the final results.

A diver qualifying for the NCAA Championship in one event can compete in additional events at the national meet if they finished among the top-12 divers in that event at the zone meet.
 
Meghan Gerdes (Jr., Spring, Texas), Hannah Montau (So., Germantown, Md.) and Caroline Turner (So., Phoenixville, Pa.) are the Navy women's divers who have qualified for the zone meet.  Gerdes and Montau will compete in all three competitions and Turner is entered into both springboard events.
 
The Navy men's team is represented by Bradley Buchter (Sr., Hickory, N.C.), Patrick Carter (Jr., West Islip, N.Y.), Lance Christopher (Fr., Lambertville, N.J.) and Jake Hedrick (Jr., Hummelstown, Pa.).  Buchter and Carter will compete in both springboard events, Christopher is a one-meter qualifier and Hedrick will take part on all three events.
 
Buchter (2017, '18, '19), Carter (2018), Gerdes (2018, '19), Hedrick (2018, '19) and Montau (2019) have all previously competed at the zone meet.
 
Last year, Buchter (1M, 3M), Gerdes (3M, platform), Hedrick (3M, platform) and Montau (1M, platform) each qualified at the zone meet for the NCAA Championship.  Buchter would go on to earn Honorable Mention All-America accolades by placing 13^th overall in the one-meter competition.  He is attempting to become just the third Navy men's diver to qualify for the NCAA Championship in each of his four seasons.
 
 
Monday – Noon – Women's 1 Meter (5 qualify for NCAA Championship) and Men's 3 Meter (6)
Meghan Gerdes, Hannah Montau, Caroline Turner
Bradley Buchter, Patrick Carter, Jake Hedrick
 
Tuesday – Noon – Men's 1 Meter (5) and Women's 3 Meter (6)
Bradley Buchter, Patrick Carter, Lance Christopher, Jake Hedrick
Meghan Gerdes, Hannah Montau, Caroline Turner
 
Wednesday – 11 a.m. – Men's (4) and Women's (5) Platform
Jake Hedrick
Meghan Gerdes, Hannah Montau