Belanger Earns Triple Qualification on Final Day of Zones

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The UCLA diving team wrapped up competition at the 2019 Zone E Diving Competitions on Wednesday with a fifth NCAA qualification, as senior Eloise Belanger placed fourth in platform at the Wall Aquatic Center on the Campus of Northern Arizona University.

Combined with her earlier auto-bids in 1-meter and 3-meter, Belanger has now triple qualified for NCAAs for the second consecutive year. The reigning Pac-12 Diver of the Year was named a CSCAA All-American on both tower and 3M last year, and she was the lone athlete to finish top-two in all three events at Zones.

Fellow senior and 2017 Pac-12 Diver of the Year Maria Polyakova also punched her ticket to NCAAs after winning both 1M and 3M earlier this week at Zones. Prior to that, she was the Diver of the Meet at the Pac-12 Championships after topping the podium in 1M and 3M.

Senior Traci Shiver came agonizingly close to booking the first NCAA qualification of her career, finishing 10^th on tower. Her score of 465.75, which included a season-best 242.00 in the prelims, was less than a point behind ninth-place Ivy Houser of Hawai'i, who secured the final NCAA auto-bid with a tally of 466.30.

Belanger posted a 253.75 in the prelims, fourth-most among all divers. She started off a bit slow in the finals, but received 56 points or higher on the final two dives in her list, including a 61.50 on her penultimate dive, a forward 3 ½ somersault pike from 10 meters.

"For Eloise, today was about surviving and finishing in the top-12 so that she could dive next week, so mission accomplished," said UCLA head diving coach Tom Stebbins.

Shiver, who was in ninth place heading into the finals, had to bounce back after scoring a 29.00 on the second dive in her list. She recovered to score higher than 40 points on her final three dives. Using a full 10-meter list, the Chatsworth, Calif. native put herself in contention for an NCAA spot after scoring a 57.60 on her fourth dive, a 6234D with the highest degree of difficulty of any on her list. She finished her day by scoring 51.80 points on an inward 2 ½ somersault pike.

 "With Traci, we talked for most of the year about how this is the situation she was going to be in, and she reacted the right way," said Stebbins. "When all is said and done, she did everything right and gave herself a chance. It was very exciting watching her compete today."

UCLA will next compete at the 2019 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, which run from Wednesday, Mar. 20 to Saturday, Mar. 23 in Austin, Tex. The Bruins will be sending a group of at least 10 student-athletes.