March 16, 2013
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Kentucky divers competed on platform on the final day of qualifying at the Zone C Diving Championships at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center Saturday afternoon. No additional UK divers qualified for the NCAA Championships on the day, with divers needing to finish in one of the top-two slots in the event to advance.
“We weren’t as strong collectively today on platform as we were the past two days,” said head dive coach Ted Hautau. “We had some good performances, notably Zack Peterson, Lindsay Keahey and Greg Ferrucci.”
With qualifying completed, Kentucky will send junior Greg Ferrucci, junior John Fox and sophomore Christa Cabot to the 2013 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships with their performances over the last three days on the campus of Purdue University.
Both the men and women competed on platform with the women heading to the tower first. Christa Cabot and Lindsay Keahey each reached the afternoon’s finals with top-12 finishes in the preliminaries. Each snuck in with Keahey grabbing the 11th slot with a five-dive score of 230.25, while Cabot grabbed the No. 12 and final spot scoring 227.9.
In the finals, Cabot improved her five-dive score with a 258.75 to earn ninth place with an aggregate score of 486.65. Keahey improved her score as well in her final five dives, scoring 236.85 to earn 11th place (467.10).
Action switched soon thereafter to men’s platform, where Ferrucci made a run at his third event title of the weekend. After preliminary action, Ferrucci stood in second place with a 419.50, his second-best performance of his career off the tower, but 39.45 points out of the top spot. Zack Peterson also had a nice preliminary score of 328.95, which was good for seventh place to move to the finals. Fox finished just outside the top 12 with a 13th-place finish with a 297.35.
Ferrucci had a record-breaking day on Friday on the 3-meter springboard, but he was unable to duplicate that success in the finals of platform after reaggrivating a previous injury to his thumb. The junior slipped to seventh place by the end of the day, finishing with a final score of 662.40. Peterson’s finals round of 297.55 paired with his preliminary score gave him a 626.5 for the day to give him 10th place.
“Overall, I’m proud of our team,” said Hautau. “They showed a lot of improvement from last year and have worked hard all season. We are looking forward to the NCAA Championships.”
Next weekend, Cabot will join Kentucky swimmer Christina Bechtel who will each make their NCAA Championships debuts at the 2013 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships at the IU Natatorium March 21-23. Ferrucci will be making his third-career appearance and will be joined by Fox, who will also be making his championships debut as the lone Wildcats heading to the 2013 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships slated for March 28-30.
