Lexington, Ky.-The Kentucky diving squad wrapped up a successful weekend at the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships with junior Taryn Ignacio qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Ignacio, a two-time Southeastern Conference platform champion, finished second on the platform Sunday and gained an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships beginning this Thursday in Athens, Ga.
Ignacio, a native of Richmond, Ky., advanced past the Zone Championships after taking second with a score of 525.50 in the platform event. Ignacio was the runner up to Miami?s Heather Bounds who finished in first with a score of 540.25.
Ignacio will now head to the NCAA Championships with her teammates (junior Joey Brown and senior Jessica Thompson) who advanced yesterday. By gaining three of Zone B?s allotted nine spots, the Cats? advance their most divers to the NCAA Championships since 1996 when four advanced from the zone meet.
?I am really thrilled with today?s performances and with getting three girls to next week?s NCAA Championships,? diving coach Mike Lyden said. ?Getting Taryn (Ignacio) to advance with the other two girls is fantastic because they are all great competitors.?
?Our girls showed great poise this weekend. This is the most stressful meet out there because you can?t be at the big dance if you don?t perform at this (Zone B) meet.?
While Ignacio was the Cats? highest finisher of the day, UK also received strong efforts from its other three divers.
Thompson took fifth on the platform while Brown placed seventh. The duo finished in the top-10 in all three events this weekend.
Senior Jillian Becker concluded her UK diving career by placing 13th in the platform.
?Jillian had some really good dives on the platform today,? Lyden said. ?She (Jillian) did a really nice job yesterday on the 3-meter as well. I wish all my girls could have made it the NCAA Championships, but I am very excited to get three to advance.?
With the Zone Championships behind them, the UK women will now turn their attention to the NCAA Championships which begin Thursday.
Ignacio and Thompson both will be making their third straight trip to the NCAA Championships while Brown will be making her first appearance. Last season, Ignacio placed ninth on the platform while Thompson took 11th in the 3-meter.
?My expectations for next week are that they (Brown, Ignacio and Thompson) will dive strong and confident,? Lyden said. ?The bottom line in our sport is that they have to land vertically. I hope that they can relax, dive aggressive and give every dive their best shot.?
The Women?s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships will begin this Thursday and will run through Sunday at Georgia?s Ramsey Center. Fans can check ukathletics.com for recaps throughout the weekend.
