COLUMBIA, Mo. – Ashley Peterson officially punched her ticket to the 2017 NCAA Championships after a sixth-place finish in the women's 10-meter platform event at the NCAA Zone D Championships on Wednesday.
 
Peterson accumulated a total of 507.80 points, holding steady through the five-round finals session after taking sixth during the preliminaries by tallying a score of 246.40.
 
The senior is UW's first NCAA championships qualifier – male or female – in a diving event since 2001, when Aaron Forgy took 15th place on the men's 3-meter springboard.
 
"We're thrilled for Ashley," UW head coach Whitney Hite said. "Our diving program has made some great strides under (diving coach) Anton Slobounov and this is a great step for both Ashley and for our program."
 
On the men's side Wednesday, Kevin Pomeroy and Andrew Pearce each qualified for the final on the platform. Pomeroy finished 11th with 595.30 points and Pearce finished 14th with 515.05 points.
 
Both Pomeroy and Pearce improved on their finishes from the preliminary round, where Pomeroy was 13th (294.80) and Pearce was 15th (259.25).
 
Alexandra Hafey also competed with Peterson in the women's platform event and took 24th with 164.85 points.
 
Peterson joins a group of 10 Wisconsin swimmers who have qualified to compete at the NCAA women's meet next week in Indianapolis. Competition is set for March 15-18 at IU Natatorium on the IUPUI campus.