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NCAA Zone D Diving Championships
Texas A&M’s Kalonji, Henschel qualify for NCAAs in platform dive at Zones
Mar 09, 2016 | Men's Swimming and Diving
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The final day of the 2016 NCAA Zone D Diving Championships saw a pair of Texas A&M divers advance to the national meet with strong performances in the platform dive on Wednesday at the Student Recreation Natatorium.
Qualifying for their respective 2016 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships were freshman Alais Kalonji from the A&M women's team and sophomore Tyler Henschel from the men's team.
Kalonji, from Rennes, France, qualified for nationals by finishing sixth in the platform dive competition with a 10-dive score of 546.40. Making the NCAA meet continued her remarkable recovery from a broken foot suffered in the Aggies' season-opening meet against Kentucky. Kalonji missed a large portion of her first season at Texas A&M but burst on the scene with a runner-up finish in the platform dive at the SEC Championships two weeks ago.
"It's an amazing feeling to be qualified for the NCAA Championships," Kalonji said. "I had a rough start to my season, so it's really nice to be able to come back like this and progress and succeed. I'm very happy I could help my team and look forward to competing at nationals."
Henschel, from Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, punched his ticket to NCAAs in a second event with his runner-up finish in the platform dive with a score of 767.95. On the first night of the meet, Henschel grabbed a qualifying spot in the three-meter springboard dive. Henschel is also coming off a broken foot that forced him to miss much of the spring season, including the SEC Championships.
For the Zone D qualifier, the Aggies' dive crew produced four NCAA Championships participants. In addition to Kalonji and Henschel, junior Madison Hudkins and Sam Thornton advanced in the one- and three-meter springboard dives.
The Texas A&M women will take 17 swimmers and divers (13 invited swimmers, two divers and two relay-only swimmers) to the NCAA Championships March 16-19 in Atlanta, Ga., while the Aggie men will take four competitors (two swimmers and two divers) to the national meet March 23-26 in Atlanta.
Qualifying for their respective 2016 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships were freshman Alais Kalonji from the A&M women's team and sophomore Tyler Henschel from the men's team.
Kalonji, from Rennes, France, qualified for nationals by finishing sixth in the platform dive competition with a 10-dive score of 546.40. Making the NCAA meet continued her remarkable recovery from a broken foot suffered in the Aggies' season-opening meet against Kentucky. Kalonji missed a large portion of her first season at Texas A&M but burst on the scene with a runner-up finish in the platform dive at the SEC Championships two weeks ago.
"It's an amazing feeling to be qualified for the NCAA Championships," Kalonji said. "I had a rough start to my season, so it's really nice to be able to come back like this and progress and succeed. I'm very happy I could help my team and look forward to competing at nationals."
Henschel, from Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, punched his ticket to NCAAs in a second event with his runner-up finish in the platform dive with a score of 767.95. On the first night of the meet, Henschel grabbed a qualifying spot in the three-meter springboard dive. Henschel is also coming off a broken foot that forced him to miss much of the spring season, including the SEC Championships.
For the Zone D qualifier, the Aggies' dive crew produced four NCAA Championships participants. In addition to Kalonji and Henschel, junior Madison Hudkins and Sam Thornton advanced in the one- and three-meter springboard dives.
The Texas A&M women will take 17 swimmers and divers (13 invited swimmers, two divers and two relay-only swimmers) to the NCAA Championships March 16-19 in Atlanta, Ga., while the Aggie men will take four competitors (two swimmers and two divers) to the national meet March 23-26 in Atlanta.
Players Mentioned
Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
Diving
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