Gonzales qualifies for NCAA Men's Championships

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – BYU true freshman diver Nathan Gonzales qualified for the NCAA Championships with his performance in the 1-meter at the Zone E Diving Championships.

“We’re excited for Nathan and for his opportunity to go to the NCAAs,” BYU head diving coach Keith Russell said. “We had other divers do some good things but we didn’t do quite as well during the finals as we would have liked.”

Gonzales qualified 13th (316.80) during the preliminaries of the 1-meter at the Air Force Academy. The young freshman vaulted his way up to ninth place (655.35) during the finals and earned a spot in the NCAA Men’s Championships in Iowa City, Iowa, March 26-28.

Sophomore Kevin Dreesen earned a ninth-place score (320.65) during the preliminaries but fell to 15th (628.15) in the finals on the 1-meter.

Senior Nicholas Suder was the only male BYU diver to qualify for the finals in the 1-meter. Suder finished 17th (299.40) in the prelims and 18th in the finals with a score of 583.55.

None of the BYU female divers qualified for the 3-meter finals. Ali Tippetts finished 20th with a score of 273.90 and Mackenzie Rands earned a score of 226.05, good enough to finish 49th.

Dreesen earned a tenth place spot in the men’s 3-meter prelims, earning a 331.85 and finished 11th in the finals scoring a 649.60.

Suder finished 14th (316.70) in the prelims as well as the finals (643.60) in the men’s 3-meter.

Gonzales is the only diver to qualify for the NCAA Championships and he will head to Iowa City, Iowa, March 26-28 to finish up the 2014-2015 season.