March 14, 2015
COLUMBUS, Ohio – University of Kentucky diver Levi Lindsey qualified for his first NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships and Christa Cabot and Rebecca Hamperian added to their NCAA qualifying total on the final day of the Zone Diving Championships in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday.
Lindsey, a freshman, qualified for the NCAA Championships on platform, while Cabot, a senior, and Hamperian, a sophomore, each completed the sweep, adding platform to their total of NCAA qualifying events after they both earned a bid on 3-meter and 1-meter on the first two days of competition.
In Zone C, Cabot and Hamperian are one of three women’s divers to qualify for the NCAA Championships on all three events. A total of 13 women’s divers earned an NCAA bid on at least one event. Cabot, a two-time All-American, will be making her third NCAA appearance, while Hamperian makes her first next weekend in Greensboro, N.C.
Cabot and Hamperian join five UK swimmers and two relay teams to have already earned a spot at the NCAA Women’s Championships. The seven Wildcats to compete at this year’s championships comes after UK qualified four athletes in 2014. Seniors Christina Bechtel and Abby Myers, sophomores Danielle Galyer and Kendal Casey and freshman Bridgette Alexander make up the rest of UK’s NCAA Championships team on March 19-21.
For the men, Lindsey joins sophomore swimmers Brandon Flynn and Kyle Higgins in Iowa City, Iowa, March 26-28.
“First and foremost, I want to praise God for the athletic talent He has given our athletes, and for bringing us to such a supportive University,” head diving coach Ted Hautau said. “Great job by the divers this week. Christa and Rebecca were solid today on platform, and Levi did an outstanding job to qualify for NCAA’s as a freshman. He competed extremely well. Lindsay Keahey was disappointed not to make it, but she has had a great career at Kentucky and has positively impacted our program in many ways.”
Saturday, Cabot finished sixth overall on platform with a 494.10, while Hamperian was eighth with a 466.90. Both divers placed in the top eight on all three events on the weekend.
Senior Lindsay Keahey placed 12th overall with 445.75 points in her first finals appearance of the weekend. She needed to earn a top-eight finish to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
For the men on platform, Lindsey led the way with a 703.40 to finish sixth overall in his first Zone Diving Championships finals appearance. Fellow freshman Stephen Jou also made the finals and finished 18th overall with a 393.20. Sophomore Noah Richter finished just shy of a spot in the finals and finished 19th with a 206.55.
For complete news and updates on the Kentucky Swimming and Diving program, go to UKathletics.com/SwimmingDiving. Breaking news, behind-the-scenes updates, photos and more can be found on Twitter at @UKSwimDive and Facebook at Facebook.com/UKSwimDive.
