INDIANAPOLIS— Five of the seven Colorado Mesa University divers in action at the NCAA Division II Pre-Championship qualification meet survived "Black Tuesday" and advanced as official qualifiers into the official NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships.
 
Defending NCAA Division II 3-meter champion Isaiah Cheeks was the top qualifier in that discipline and added another high third place finish in the 1-meter qualifying.
 
He will be joined by three men's teammates in first-time qualifiers Dawson Wilson, Wyatt Hermanson and Josh Thomas.  Kyra Apodaca also successfully navigated the qualification process on the women's side to book a repeat appearance in the official national meet while freshman Devon Gordon and Kenya Meyer were narrow misses for the Maverick men and women.
 
Cheeks, a 4-time all-American and now 3-time official NCAA Championship qualifier, took care of his 2023 qualification early, scoring 311.85 points over six dives off the 3-meter board to win the 26-man competition by 27.25 points.  Wilson also fared well placing fifth with 269.70 points, assuring the freshman out of Dickinson, North Dakota qualification as one of the nine highest finishers.
 
The men then moved to the 1-meter board, which again offered automatic qualification into the official championship meet to the top nine finishers.  Cheeks finished third with 296.00 points as one of the five men who were in the top nine on both boards, thus creating five wild card spots, handed out to the next highest finishers, alternating between boards, who filled out the 18-man overall quota.
 
Hermanson snagged one of those after placing 12^th on the 3-meter with a score of 247.75 points.    Thomas also snagged the last one, taking 13^th on the on 1-meter with a score of 240.35 points.
 
However, Gordon finished just one spot out taking 15^th behind Thomas and Wilson (14^th, 239.35 on the 1-meter.  He had placed 21^st in the earlier 3-meter competition.  Thomas was also 16^th in the 3-meter with a score of 236.85.
 
Meanwhile, the women dove in an opposite order, contesting the 1-meter qualification first.
 
Apodaca finished 14^th with 223.65 points while Meyer finished 30^th with 190.75 points as only 11 women out of the 39 1-meter contestants booked a spot into the official championships.  However, Apodaca was able to respond and finished fifth out of 35 women on the 3-meter, easily qualifying as one of the top 11 finishers.
 
The Maverick sophomore was an honorable mention all-American last year, finishing ninth on the 3-meter and 15^th on the 1-meter last year.
 
However, Meyer fell just short of the 22-woman official championship qualification, placing 19^th on the 3-meter with a score of 226.30 points after finishing 30^th on the 1-meter with 190.75 points.  If she would have placed 17^th in either event, she would have got through.
 
The official championships begin Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. Eastern (4 p.m. MST) with the 800-yard freestyle relays.  The first diving event, the women's 1-meter will be contested on Wednesday.  The men's 3-meter event will be held on Thursday.