March 12, 2013

Sophomore Haley Ishimatsu, the 2013 Women's Pac-12 platform champion, and sophomore Jordan Gear, a platform finalist on the men's side, will lead USC's five-diver contingent at the 2013 NCAA Zone E Diving Championships, Thursday through Saturday (March 14-16), at the U.S. Air Force Academy's Cadet Natatorium in Fort Collins, Colo.

There are 85 divers competing for a handful of berths into the upcoming men's and women's NCAA Championships, including women's divers from 24 western schools and men's divers from 11 schools.

Ishimatsu, in her first year as a Trojan after transferring from Duke, claimed the platform title two weeks ago to go with her second-place on 1-meter and fourth on 3-meter.

She is joined by freshman teammates Sam Adams and Natalie Kalibat, who were both key conference scorers. Adams was a two-time finalist, finishing seventh on platform and eighth on 3-meter, while Kalibat was 10th on platform and 11th on 1-meter.

Ishimatsu is the younger sister of Trojan great Victoria Ishimatsu, the four-time conference diver of the year who completed her USC career last season with an NCAA title on 1-meter.

Gear repeated as a fourth-place finisher on the Pac-12 platform in the men's event and was also 11th on 1-meter. Freshman Spencer Madanay 12th on 3-meter and 16th on 1-meter.

Results will be available at Divemeets.org.

Thursday's action includes women's 3-meter prelims at 11 a.m. and finals at 1:45 p.m. and men's 1-meter prelims at 4:45 p.m. with finals at 6:30 p.m. and women's 1-meter finals at 1:45 p.m. On Friday, the schedule reverses with women's 1-meter and men's 3-meter. Women's platform prelims begin at 11 a.m. Saturday with finals at 12:30 p.m. Men's platform prelims are at 3:30 p.m. with finals at 5 p.m.