Four Wildcats Earn Bids to NCAAs at Zone C Diving Championships
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Kentucky divers Sam Duncan, Kyndal Knight, Rodrigo Romero and Morgan Southall punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships after qualifying for the big dance at the Zone C Diving Championships. The meet, which served as the sole opportunity for divers to qualify for nationals, was held March 7-9 at the Donald B. Canham Natatorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The 2022 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships will be held March 16-19 while the men’s competition will take place March 23-26. Both meets will be at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
“Huge props to Kyndal for qualifying on all three events, which is no easy feat. Morgan had quite the comeback, and for her to be able to execute a new list of dives was unbelievable,” said head diving coach Ted Hautau. “Sam also had a huge comeback, which was incredible given the field he was competing in. Rodrigo did an outstanding job all meet and was amazing under pressure, and dove smart and consistently. Overall, I am incredibly proud of this group and excited about what’s to come.”
Divers competing in Ann Arbor had to achieve standards on at least one of the three disciplines — 1-meter, 3-meter and/or platform — throughout the season in order to qualify for the zone championships. All six Wildcat divers on Kentucky’s roster met those qualifying scores and competed this past week.
The top 18 finalists from the preliminary round advanced to finals at the zone meet. At the conclusion of the final round on each of the three disciplines for both men and women, tabulators compiled scores from prelims and finals to determine the divers that earned bids to the NCAA Championships.
In total, Zone C — composed of Division I schools from the states of Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio — was allotted nine spots on both the 1-meter and 3-meter as well as 11 spots on platform for men. The women were permitted nine spots for 1-meter and platform in addition to 10 for 3-meter.
The Wildcats impressed in the field of 100 other divers representing 22 programs. With 15 chances for Kentucky to advance to finals, UK divers capitalized on 13 of those opportunities to make it past the preliminary round.
Duncan, a sophomore, earned a bid to the NCAA Championships for the second year in a row on the men’s 1-meter. His prelims score of 321.65 solidified his spot in finals as the 10th seed, which he improved upon to finish ninth with an overall total of 684.15.
Knight first secured her spot for the national meet on the women’s 1-meter. After posting a score of 277.65 during prelims as the eighth seed, she recorded a 564.20 to finish seventh in finals. The senior co-captain then added another event to her lineup on the 3-meter, an event in which she finished ninth with a total score of 595.90 following her mark of 298.60 in prelims.
A diver that qualifies for NCAAs is allowed to optionally enter any other event(s) in Atlanta given that they finished in the top 12 at the zone meet in addition to achieving the zone qualifying score. Because of this, Knight’s 12th-place finish on platform (487.45) permits her to compete on that discipline next week.
This marks the third time Knight has qualified for NCAAs on all three boards in her career.
Saving his best showing for last, Romero put together a standout performance on the men’s platform to punch his ticket to NCAAs for the first time in his career. The junior’s score of 304.95 after prelims gave him the 10th seed heading into finals where he registered a mark of 713.15 to finish ninth overall.
Southall will compete on the national stage for the first time in her career as well after an impressive performance on the women’s 3-meter. She narrowly grabbed a spot in finals after her first-round total of 273.35. The junior bested that in finals, moving up eight spots to 10th place with a score of 585.15.
Since Southall clinched an automatic spot on the 3-meter, her 12th-place showing on the 1-meter (548.55) also allows her to compete on that board in Atlanta.
In the first zone meet of her career, Abby Devereaux scored 262.10 to place 19th on the women’s 1-meter. She then followed that up with a finals appearance on platform, finishing 17th in 418.35 after setting a new career-best 216.75 in prelims. The freshman also competed on the 3-meter (235.05).
All three Wildcat men advanced to finals on the 3-meter on the first day of competition. Danny Zhang finished 12th with a score of 725.70, followed by Romero in 14th and Duncan in 16th with respective totals of 709.75 and 671.25. After his prelims score of 288.70, Romero also advanced to finals on the 1-meter to finish 18th in 553.35. Zhang was a finalist on platform, too, with scores of 247.10 and 651.25 for prelims and finals, respectively, to take 14th.
As for the swimmers, 10 women and two men were invited and will join the Wildcat divers in Atlanta later this month.
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