Freshman Knight Tabbed SEC Female Diver of the Week
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Freshman diver Kyndal Knight was recognized by the Southeastern Conference on Tuesday as the SEC Female Diver of the Week for her head-turning performances at the Ohio State Invitational in Columbus, Ohio, Nov 15-17.
Out of the gate, Knight made an impactful impression at the 13th annual invitational in her debut performance on the 3-meter springboard. In her preliminary bout, Knight scored a 287.75 to qualify for the final event. It was in the final event that Knight scored a 326.35 to become the overall winner in the women’s 3-meter dive. She would be the only Kentucky female diver to earn first in a diving event at the invitational.
The newcomer from Stanley, North Carolina, carded high marks on the 1-meter springboard too, posting a 297.70 in the preliminary event and a 269.79 in the finals, earning a fourth-place finish overall. Finally, Knight finished fourth on platform with 239 points, which was a 20-person field with no preliminary event.
Knight was the only Kentucky female diver to earn zone qualifying scores in each of her events. She also contributed a total of 98 points to the No. 17 Kentucky women, helping them finish third in the nine-team invitational.
While the freshman will have plenty of time to earn even higher marks in her young career, Knight was less than four points shy of earning her name on the program’s all-time, top-10 diving scores list in the 3-meter discipline. Junior Emma Dellmore holds the reign with a 330.23.
Knight snapped a three-year drought since a Kentucky female diver has won SEC Female Diver of the Week, which was last rewarded to former Wildcat Rebecca Hamperian on Dec. 8, 2015.
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.
