After taking a trip to Bloomington, Ind., for the Zone Diving championships, the season came to a close for Irish divers March 9.
Notre Dame left with a 12th place finish in the 1-meter from freshman Nick Nemetz in the field of 49. Freshman Michael Kreft took 30th, and junior Ryan Koter came in one spot behind, while freshman Ted Wagner came in 38th.
"It's a pretty intimidating meet because the best divers from all the Division I schools from the states around us are there," Koter said. "A lot of them we have seen throughout the season, but there some others we don't see normally. It's definitely another level of competition."
Koter scored 32nd in the 3-meter, while Kreft and Wagner took 23rd and 44th, respectively. Nemetz, who placed 19th in the 3-meter, said he could also feel his nerves getting to him.
"I wasn't feeling too great," Nemetz said. "I was a little nervous. There were a lot of great divers there, and I wasn't used to diving with all those great divers."
For Koter, the meet was about shaking off his performance at the Big East championships.
"I had a rough Big East meet, so I was just looking to be more relaxed and have a little more fun," Koter said. "I was really relaxed at the meet so I accomplished that goal, but I know I can dive better."
The team will now continue to practice in the offseason to stay in shape and prepare for next season.
"I think our goals as a team are to try and get stronger and learn some new dives in the offseason, to try to work on some skills we haven't had time to work on during the year," Koter said. "Were looking to condition so we can build muscles and stay fit and ready."
With three freshmen diving at the Zone championships, the team will look to build on the experience it gained this season.
"I think the team did really well this season," Koter said. "Its remarkable what we did with such a young team. It just shows how great the future is going to be now that everyone has a year of experience. It's only going to get better from me."
Contact Jonathan Warren at jwarren3@nd.edu
