Lexington, Ky. – The Kentucky diving squad had a very successful outing at the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships on Saturday with both junior Joey Brown and senior Jessica Thompson qualifying for the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga., beginning Thurs., Mar. 16.
Thompson, a native of Matthews, N.C., stole the show for the Cats in the 3-meter diving event by finishing fourth with a score of 610.40 and gaining an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. The 2005 Southeastern Conference Champion in the 3-meter paced UK finishing fourth in both the prelims and the finals. Thompson was steady throughout the day registering a score of 304.55 in the prelims and a 305.85 score in the finals.
Joining Thompson at the NCAA Championships will be Brown. The Laguna Niguel, Calif., native finished fourth in the 1-meter on Friday and placed right behind her teammate Thompson in fifth in the 3-meter with a score of 604.60. Brown gained one of the nine spots allotted to women divers from this zone when Auburn?s Corey Gerlach, who finished third in the 1-meter, won Saturday?s 3-meter event.
Besides the efforts of Thompson and Brown, Kentucky also received strong performances from three other divers. For the second straight day, UK placed four women in the top-18 of the prelims in the 3-meter to lead all schools.
Senior Jillian Becker and sophomore Kari Retrum each advanced to the afternoon?s finals where they finished 14th and 15th respectively.
On the men?s side, freshman Justin Smith stepped up to reach the finals in the 1-meter event. The Lynwood, Ill., native gave himself great momentum for next season by finishing in 17th place.
?We had another great day of diving from our women with four making the finals in the 3-meter,? diving coach Mike Lyden said. ?Everyone dove really well for us and Jessica (Thompson) was as steady as a rock finishing fourth.?
?Tomorrow will be another opportunity for us to gain a spot to the NCAA Championships in the platform event. The platform is an event where Taryn (Ignacio) performs at a high level.?
The NCAA Zone B Diving Championships will conclude tomorrow at the Lancaster Aquatic Center with the men?s and women?s platform event starting at 10 a.m. EST. Fans can check ukathletics.com for score updates a recap.
