TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2006
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 3B
DIVING
242.
shot
and
a 278.
bergman
Jayhawks in the Zone
Last weekend's appearance a first for Kansas
BY BETTY KASPAR
bkaspar@kansan.com
KANSAN SPORTWRITER
For senior diver Casey Topol, diving is a mental sport, and the Zone Diving meet pushed her to her mental edge.
"It's a very tough meet," Topol said. "It can really rack on your brain."
Kansas qualified three divers for the NCAA Zone "D" regional in Columbia, Mo., last weekend.
Along with Topol, senior Robyn Karlage and junior Shelby Noonan also qualified.
If a diver qualified in one event, she could compete in all three events.
Team scores aren't considered in the event.
It was the first time the Kansas divers competed at the Zone Diving Meet.
Topol said the team did an amazing job considering the team had never gone to a zone meet.
The meet also marked the end of Karlage and Topol's career at Kansas.
On the first day of competition, Noonan lead Kansas with a score of 469.95 and finished 10th in the one-meter dive. Topol finished 14th and Karlage finished 24th.
"I didn't perform as well as I wanted to, but going into it, I just wanted to have fun and finish my career on a good note, and I think that I successfully did that," Karlage said.
"They had good events, they had rough events, but it was just a good experience." Elliot said. "It was a very high level of competition and for them to keep it together for that, it is nice to see they are that mentally tough."
On the second day, Topol was the only diver to compete in the platform competition and finished 13th with 357.7 points. In the three-meter competition, Noonan lead the way for Kansas with a 19th-place finish. Karlage finished 23rd and Topol finished 27th. Kansas diving coach Eric Elliot said the team performed well.
Topol said she was emotional at the beginning of the meet,but that her mother and Elliot had a calming effect on her.
"They had good events, they had rough events, but it was just a good experience."
Eric Elliot Kansas diving coach
"I loved ever minute of it," Topol said.
Karlage said the event was about looking to the future.
"I think the team is going to be great in the future and it's going to continue to get better." Karlage said.
Elliot agreed with the sentimentality of the event.
"It is sad for me to see them go, but I am excited for them to move onto the next chapter of their life," Elliot said, "I think all the lessons they have learned from diving such as setting goals, hard work, and the discipline it takes to reach their goals will fit in with their professional careers and the rest of their lives."
Although the divers are done, swimmers will return to action for the NCAA Championships on Thursday in Athens, Ga., and will finish up on the Saturday.
Edited by John Jordan
▼ WOMEN'S NCAA TOURNAMENT
Women's basketball seeds selected
BY DONNA TOMMELLEO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
North Carolina, Ohio State,
Louisiana State and Duke were
selected Monday as the No. 1
seeds for the women's NCAA
tournament.
All four teams have started on top of the NCAA brackets before, but overall top seed North Carolina is the only one with a national title. It's the third No. 1 seed for North
Carolina, which is seeking its second championship since 1994.
Duke has been a No.1 seed five times and Louisiana State has been selected at the top of the bracket three times. Ohio State received its second top seeding and the first for the Buckeyes since 1993.
North Carolina, ranked at the top of the final AP Poll, and No.2 Ohio State each won their regular season and conference
North Carolina (29-1) was placed in the Cleveland regional and will open the tournament Saturday in Nashville against Big West champion UC Riverside.
enamplionships in their respective Atlantic Coast and Big Ten conferences.
Six-time national champion Tennessee is seeded second in the Cleveland bracket, and Big East regular season champion Rutgers is third.
Undoing the damage
Workers make repairs to the bleachers and backstop at Arrocha Ballpark Monday afternoon. The ballpark's facilities were heavily damaged by Sunday's severe weather.
Randall Sanders/KANSAN
KANSAN COUNTY
Kansan Classifieds.. Say it for everyone to hear 20% discount for students
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