Myers-McLoraine pool in Ratner was host to 59 divers competing in an NCAA regional competition this weekend.
The Maroons sent four divers from the men’s team to the competition, which began on Friday and lasted through Saturday.
Fourth-years Anthony Restaino, Matthew Staab, and Kevin Steffes, along with first-year Dean Boures participated in the central region competition with the hopes of qualifying for the NCAA Championship competition to be held later this month in Shenandoah, TX.
This weekend was the only opportunity for the Maroons to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Unlike swimming, divers are not able to qualify for the competition with scores from earlier in the year. This is the third year with this relatively new format.
The competition kicked off with the women’s one-meter at 4 p.m. on Friday, and was followed by the men’s three-meter at 8:30 p.m. The action continued Saturday, beginning with the women’s three-meter at noon and wrapping up with the men’s one-meter at 4 p.m.
Kenyon College’s Maria Zarka clinched the women’s event title with a score of 524.05. Connor Dignan of Denison University swept the men’s competition, finishing in first place with 557.75 points.
Restaino was the South Siders’ high finisher in two events for the second time, placing in fourth with a total of 545.00 points. Matthew Staab clinched eighth-place with 495.50 points.
Boures and Steffes placed 15th and 22nd overall, with 438.90 and 417.30 points, respectively.
“I felt great about my performance at the regional qualifying meet this past weekend. I dove incredibly well and put up personal best scores on both boards, which was a great experience to have at my last home meet of my college career,” Restaino said.
Restaino and Staab both were selected to the NCAA Division III Championships after their top-10 finishes this weekend.
Of the team, Steffes said that having four divers compete this weekend shows “how strong a team we are in the region.”
“It was very exciting watching Tony [Restaino] and Matt [Staab] take two of the qualifying spots this weekend, and I look forward to seeing how they compete at NCAAs,” Steffes said. “Tony especially had one of his best personal meets on both boards.”
First-year Dean Boures also commented on the senior divers.
“Diving with this team was easily the best athletics experience I’ve ever had, and I’ll miss Kevin [Steffes], Matt [Staab], Tony [Restaino], and Sofia [Gross] [the four graduating senior divers] very much in the future,” Boures said.
Restaino and Staab will compete March 18–21 in Shenandoah, TX.
