UK Punches Three More Tickets to 2019 NCAA Championships

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Freshman Danny Zhang will join the list of NCAA qualified divers, as six UK divers compete in the 2019 Zone C Diving Championships March 14-16, the lone opportunity for divers to qualify for the 2019 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships.
 
Zhang, who won a bronze medal at the Southeastern Conference Championships in February, automatically qualified for the national meet on Friday on the 3-meter springboard. The freshman of California finished the preliminary round with 384.85 points to become one of 18 to advance to the final round. He brought more heat in the final six dives, accumulating 401.90 points to finish third overall with 786.35 points.
 
The top eight finishers in the men’s 3M division – preliminary and final round scores combined – earned automatic bids to the NCAA Championships.
 
Seb Masterton, who punched a ticket to the NCAA Championships on Thursday with his 1-meter springboard performance, also automatically qualified on 3M on Friday. This morning, the senior charted a 363.80 to advance to the final round. There he delivered, when the England native collected 371.25 points for a total of 735.05 points. He finished sixth overall.
 
Kyndal Knight became a two-time NCAA qualifier on Friday when she finished 10th overall on 1M. The rookie advanced to the final round with a preliminary score of 263.60. In the final wave, the North Carolina native reported 270.55 points for a total of 534.15 points.
 
In the women’s 1M division, only the top-nine finishers automatically qualified to the national meet. However, since Knight auto qualified on 3M on Thursday, she will be allowed to optionally enter any other event(s) at the national meet, provided that she finished in the top 12 in the additional discipline at the same zone meet.
 
Senior Kailey Francetic advanced to the final round on 3M, but her 519.35 points overall were not enough to qualify for the national meet.
 
On Saturday, UK will have one final opportunity to qualify divers for the NCAA Championships when the platform division commences for the men and women at 11 a.m.
 
Thursday Qualifiers
Seb Masterton
Senior

• 1M springboard
• 747.00 points

 
Kyndal Knight
Freshman

• 3M spirngboard
• 604.70

 
Schedule
Saturday, March 16        11 a.m.               Women’s PL
                                                                        15 minute break in between list to cut to top 18
                                                                        One-hour warm up for men
                                                                        Men’s PL
Brush Up
United States is sectioned into five zones. UK is in Zone C, which includes Division I programs from Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. Divers competing in the zone championships had to meet preset NCAA standards at a dive meet this season. A diver could have met an NCAA standard in one, two or all of three disciplines – 1M springboard, 3M springboard and/or platform.
 
Each UK diver who qualified for the zone championships met requirements to compete in each discipline, except for freshman Danny Zhang who joined the program in January. He will only compete in both springboard divisions, but will not compete on platform.
 
At the zone championships, the top 18 finishers from the preliminary round will advance to the final round. At the conclusion of the final round per discipline, tabulators will compile scores from the preliminary round and the final round to determine finals placing. From the finals placing list, only top finishers will earn a ticket to the national meet:
 
Zone C: Automatic Qualifying Spots
1-Meter – Women: 9; Men: 11
3-Meter – Women: 8; Men: 8
Platform – Women: 12; Men: 8
 
If a diver auto-qualifies for an event, he or she will be allowed to optionally enter any other event(s) at the national meet, provided that the diver finished in the top 12 in the additional discipline at the same zone meet.
 
The NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships will commence March 20-23, while the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships resumes March 27-30. Both meets will be hosted at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center on the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas.
 
Nine female swimmers and two male swimmers from the men’s and women’s UK swimming and diving teams have already been invited to compete in the national meet – the zone championship is the final opportunity to qualify athletes. Divers who qualify this weekend will join the UK swimmers at the national meet, which will make up the amount of possible scorers for each team.
 
For the latest on the Kentucky swimming and diving program, follow @UKSwimDive on Twitter and on Instagram, on Facebook and on the web at UKathletics.com.