Thursday, March 10, 2005
Photo by Stephanie Farley
Jenny Roberts, St. Louis sophomore, performs a dive in Robinson Center on Monday afternoon. Roberts, a member of the Kansas diving team, was preparing for the NCAA Zone D Regional Diving Meet, March 11 to 13 in College Station, Texas. Divers compete to qualify for national championships at zone meets.
Jenny Roberts has a lot to be proud of as the Zone D Regional Diving Meet approaches tomorrow.
Roberts is coming off an injury that caused her to sit out her senior year of high school and take a redshirt with the Kansas swimming and diving team her freshman year of college. During a high school diving meet, Roberts was completing a back two-and-a-half dive when she came out wrong. She had several back injuries that halted her diving career for two years.
This year, Roberts has made a comeback in the college diving scene. She is one of three divers on the team to qualify for the Zone D meet, an accomplishment she is proud of.
“I’m really excited,” Roberts said. “That’s what this year has been all about.”
Sophomore Shelby Noonan and junior Casey Topol also qualified, but Roberts will be the only Jayhawk at the meet in College Station, Texas because of Noonan’s recent injury at the Big 12 Conference Swimming and Diving Championships. Topol will not attend for academic reasons.
Roberts could receive a bid to the NCAA Championships next week. Diving coach Eric Elliot explained that usually the top five winners are invited.
“I’d be thrilled to see Jenny place in the top 12,” Elliot said. “Top five would be great, but she’d have to be completely on, and hit everything.”
The Zone D meet is the only road to the NCAA Championships for lower Midwest region collegiate divers. Roberts said that it would be huge if she qualified for NCAA Championships, but she didn’t think it was likely.
“I’m really excited,” Roberts said, “but this is more of an experience.”
Elliot also explained that this meet is a diver’s one shot to make it to the NCAA Championships, and divers had to qualify for the Zone D meet first.
Roberts said that getting to experience the meet was an accomplishment in itself because of her high school injury, and coach Elliot agreed.
“Of course we want a good performance,” Elliot said, “but I want her to have fun, and to get the experience so that she’ll have it for next year.
Although the meet starts tomorrow, Roberts will not be performing until Saturday, when she will compete in the one-meter competition.
She will complete six dives. Two of the dives will be front dives, two will be back dives, one will be inward and one will be a reverse dive. The divers’ scores are compiled by multiplying the judges’ scores by the degree of difficulty of the dive.
Elliot said that there were always quality divers at the Zone D meet, but each year new divers came to the meet.
“At this level, anybody could get there,” Elliot said, “but you have to have a good meet.”
Both Elliot and Roberts said they were disappointed that Noonan couldn’t make the trip with them.
“It’s really disappointing about Shelby,” Elliot said, “because she was diving really well.”
He said that this is the first year that there have been a significant number of spots available in the Zone D meet and he wished more Jayhawks could have taken advantage of the spots.
Injuries aside, Elliot said he was looking forward to the meet tomorrow, as was Roberts.
She said she was excited to be making her debut in championship diving after her two-year injury.
“I’m a better diver because of my injury,” Roberts said, “mentally, physically, and personally.”
Edited by Jennifer Voldness
New coach, training improves dives
Freshman ends season on high note at ...
Kansas divers compete in Iowa to qualify ...
One diver makes her first career appearance in the Iowa competition.
Swimming and diving ready for Big 12
Kuzhil, Mayrovich, Mertz, Proehl, McMacken qualify for NCAA Championships, divers still have ...
Swimming & Diving team wraps up season
The Kansas swimming & diving team end on a high note with ...
Kansas divers in depth
The diving team has prepared all year for this week’s Big 12 ...
Swimming and diving takes fourth in Big ...
Many athletes break school records and finish with their lifetime bests in ...
Swimming finishing strong
Swimming and diving brief
Wading past the competition
The swimming and diving team scored over 500 points and broke five ...
Kansas swimming and diving team falls to ...
The Kansas swimming and diving team lost to Missouri on Friday, despite ...
Swimming and diving on two-meet win streak
Kansas will try to continue its winter-break momentum at Nebraska on Saturday
Hard practices toughen team
Swimmer surprised at tournament berth
Swimmers prepare to make waves
Coach Clark Campbell hopes to improve upon the accomplishments of last year’s ...
Young team looks to build strength
After losing top athletes, the swimming and diving team welcomes fresh faces ...
New Kansas recruits get their feet wet
This year’s swim and dive team sees new talent from around the ...
Swimming and diving to compete in nationals ...
Swimming and diving must compete in NCAA tournament after receiving news of ...
Swimming yields mixed results in duals
Team loses to Missouri, then defeats Nebraska-Omaha in back-to-back competitions.
Kansas swimmers strive to break records
Jayhawks on their way to Columbia, Mo., to compete in Big 12 ...
Mertz swims past competition
Sophomore Erin Mertz becomes All-American diver at NCAA Championships.
Diving team fares well in Houston invitational
The Kansas diving team traveled to Texas this weekend to compete in ...
Women’s swimming and diving goes two-for-two
The women’s swimming and diving team beat two Arizona opponents, but suffered ...
Moving the program forward
New schedule provides tougher competition for the Kansas swimming and diving team.
Sophomore diver Meghan Proehl receives award for ...
She has made community service a focus outside the pool.
Swimmer breaks backstroke school record
The swimming and diving team qualified the most swimmers since 1998 for ...
Jayhawks journey to Texas for Big 12 ...
Kansas will have to conquer three ranked opponents for the title.
Scuba for landlocked divers
Norwegian swimmer adapts to campus
Monica Johannessen looks to qualify for the NCAA championship in swimming.
Cross country misses cut for championships
Lauren Bonds placed 16th at Regionals, which didn’t qualify her for NCAA ...
KU swim team excels at double dual ...
Swimmers and divers find success at end-of-season meet and get opportunity to ...
Player advances to regional tournament
Top player, sophomore Emily Powers, qualified for the NCAA Golf West Regional ...
Swimming and diving teams set new records
Kansas breaks relay times and 50-yard freestyle pool record at Saturday’s meet ...
Tired swimmers narrowly beat Nebraska
Two previous dual meets and intense winter training program fail to prevent ...
Jayhawks step up efforts to reach potential
Experience may be the key for Kansas’ young swimming and diving team’s ...
Track and field looks for fair weather ...
The John Jacobs Invitational will let runners experience the track where Championships ...
Track and field looks for fair weather ...
The John Jacobs Invitational will let runners experience the track where Championships ...
Wasinger heads to the NCAA Championship
The men’s cross country captain earns an indivual spot in Nationals.
Kansas posts four victories at Arkansas Meet
The Jayhawks continued their success at an Arkansas meet with strong showings ...
Proehl finds time for volunteering
Senior diver, other team members volunteer for local organizations.
From left: Kimberlee Hinkle, Libby Johnson and Hannah ...
1 comment
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID