The road, or should we say board, to a National Championship begins Monday for Old Dominion's Rachel Eckert.
The junior has qualified for the NCAA Regional or Zones Tournament in the one and three-meter dives. We caught up with her today at practice and asked what she needed to work on before the tournament.
"We've been putting together all the stuff I may have had trouble with at the conference meet, including certain dives and repeating lists," she said before practicing on the one meter board.
I asked her what she needs to do to advance and without missing a beat she answered, "Do really well."
Rachel has had a spectacular year. She recently took first place on the three-meter dive at the C-USA tournament and placed second on the one-meter dive. She was also named to the All-Academic team. She hold a 3.93 GPA.
Her strategy for the Zones, be consistent and, "stay focused while in the zone."
Rachel will begin with the one-meter dive on Monday followed by the three-meter dive Tuesday. The Zones are being held at Virginia Tech.
