For the first time in school history, five LSU divers advanced to the NCAA championship.
The men’s diving team will have at least one representative in all three events. Freshman Juan Celaya-Hernandez, sophomores Matthew Phillip and Matthew McClellan and senior Andrew Suchla will compete in one and three meter springboard and the platform.
Sophomore diver Lizzie Cui competed for the women’s side and walked away with first team All-American honors and fifth in the nation on the one-meter.
Last year at the NCAA championship, Cui placed second to last in the same event.
Celaya-Hernandez, a native of Mexico, has been making headlines all year, coming off of a first place finish at the SEC championships.
“[Winning SEC] gives me a little more confidence,” Celaya-Hernandez said. “It puts a little more pressure on me than the other guys.”
At the NCAA zone diving regionals March 6-8, Celaya-Hernandez finished in the top two for all three events and placed first on both springboards in finals.
Celaya-Hernandez holds three school records, but that was the plan along.
“That was my goal to break records before I graduated, but already holding almost all the school records feels pretty good,” he said.
Celaya-Hernandez notched an automatic bid on the first day of the zone diving regionals, taking first place on the one-meter with a score of 828.00. Celaya-Hernandez will be competing in all three events at the championship.
For Suchla, punching the ticket for NCAA’s was extra special.
The NCAA championship will be Suchla’s first trip to the meet and final meet as a Tiger.
“I’ve been working hard all four years and this has always been my goal,” Suchla said. “It’s amazing that I finally get to go.”
Suchla also got an automatic bid to NCAA’s on the first day of the zone regional meet earning eighth overall on the one-meter.
The NCAA championships will be a new experience to three additional divers on the team.
Two days into the zone diving regionals, three divers on the men’s side had qualified for NCAA’s and needed one diver more to make history.
On the final day of the zone diving regionals, Phillip earned his first ever berth to the NCAA championships after taking fifth overall on the platform with a score of 704.10.
“I’m glad I made it this year,” Phillip said. “Last year I missed it by just a few points.”
Last year there were no divers for the men’s team who qualified for the championship.
“It’s never been done in school history,” Suchla said. “They’re my best friends so it’s nice being able to share that experience with them. I couldn’t imagine any other way to go out.”
The men’s diving team will be competing March 22-25 in Indiana at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis.