March 6, 2012

TUCSON, Ariz. -

Arizona’s men’s and women’s diving teams will compete in the NCAA Diving Zone E Championships beginning Thursday, March 8 and continuing through Saturday, March 10 in Colorado Springs, Colo.

In the meet, the divers will attempt to qualify for the men’s and women’s respective NCAA Championships, taking place in the next couple of weeks.

On the men’s side, the Wildcats are led by Ben Grado (Conifer, Colo.), who has had an extremely successful senior campaign. Grado is coming off individual Pac-12 Championships on all boards, a feat that has not been accomplished since current head coach Omar Ojeda won all three boards in 2008.

Senior Andres Guerra (Sugarland, Texas) has given Arizona some depth after posting runner-up honors on the platform board at the Pac-12 Championships.

Sophomore Sean Clark (Phoenix, Ariz.) and freshmen Carter Craft (Houston, Texas) and Josh Bidak (Phoenix, Ariz.) will also compete for the men.

On the women’s side, sophomore Samantha Pickens (Murrysville, Pa.) has shown that she will be a serious contender after posting a runner-up finish on the 1m and fourth-place finish on the 3m at the Pac-12 Championships.

In addition, senior Ainsley Oliver (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) has a chance to do some damage after earning a fourth-place finish on the platform and seventh on the 3m at Pac-12s.

Junior Ashley Herrera (La Palma, Calif.) and freshman Izzy Diamond (Tucson, Ariz.) will also compete for the women.

Qualifiers from the meet will be announced on Saturday.

For complete results and continued coverage of Arizona Diving, visit www.ArizonaWildcats.com or follow @ArizonaSwimming on Twitter.