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BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Virginia Tech men’s and women’s diving teams concluded the final day of NCAA qualifying at the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships at the Alumnia Arena Natatorium Wednesday by earning seven automatic bids in the platform event. Emma Villarreal punched her first ticket to NCAAs, while Kelli Stockton, Kaylea Arnett, Logan Stevens, Thomas Shinholser, Kyle Butts and Mauro Castro-Silva earned spots in their third event of the week.

“I am extremely pleased with how this year’s zones went,” head coach Ron Piemonte said. “It is new qualifying procedure, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. To qualify four men and four women to NCAAs is an unbelievable accomplishment. It is also a Virginia Tech best-ever. Last year we qualified three men and three women, which was also a huge accomplishment.”

In the women’s platform, Stockton delivered her second first-place finish this week with a score of 695.95. That came after a prelims school-record score of 324.00 for five dives.

Villarreal earned her first chance at the NCAA Championships with a third-place finish after posting a score of 533.65. Villarreal became the fourth Tech woman to qualify for an NCAA diving event this year - a Virginia Tech school-record for most diving participants at NCAAs.

Arnett earned her third automatic qualification of the week with a sixth-place finish after posting a score of 504.55. Katie Bean finished 11th in the event, scoring 424.05.

Tech’s men once again dominated the day’s diving event, earning four automatic qualifiers out of the top-seven spots in the platform. Stevens led the way for the H₂Okies, taking second with a score of 714.55. Shinholser was behind him in third with a score of 703.55. This week Shinholser earned third-place in all three diving events.

Butts took fifth behind them after scoring 686.95. Mauro Castro-Silva rounded out the Tech men, finishing seventh with a mark of 642.45.

Tech’s eight total qualifiers are currently the most by any school in all the NCAA. Every zone except zone C has completed competition.

The women’s NCAA Championships begin on Thursday, March 19 and run through Saturday, March 21 in Greensboro, North Carolina. The men’s championships commence the following week, beginning Thursday, March 26 and concluding Saturday, March 28 in Iowa City, Ia.

A full list of results is available here.

NCAA Qualifiers:

Kaylea Arnett - 3-meter (7th - automatic), 1-meter (1st - automatic), Platform (6th - automatic)
Kelli Stockton - 3-meter (1st - automatic), 1-meter (4th - automatic), Platform (1st - automatic)
Ashley Buchter - 3-meter (6th - automatic)
Emma Villarreal - Platform (3rd - automatic)

Thomas Shinholser - 1-meter (3rd - automatic), 3-meter (3rd - automatic), Platform (3rd - automatic)
Mauro Castro-Silva - 1-meter (7th - at-large), 3-meter (5th - automatic), Platform (7th - automatic)
Kyle Butts - 1-meter (8th - at-large), 3-meter (6th - automatic), Platform (5th - automatic)
Logan Stevens - 1-meter (6th - at-large), 3-meter (7th - automatic), Platform (2nd - automatic)

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