2016 WOMEN’S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, March 16 – Saturday, March 19
- McAuley Aquatic Center – Atlanta, GA
- Prelims 10AM/Finals 6PM (Eastern Time)
- Defending Champion: Cal – Results
- Championships Central
- SwimSwam Link Sheet
- Live stream: All prelims, Wednesday finals, & Thursday finals (Other sessions will be on ESPN3)
- Live results
After the action subsided for the morning session of swimming, all eyes turned to the McAuley Aquatic Center diving area. This year’s crop of divers resembles an entirely different group of athletes than those who competed at the 2015 Championships, as only two women returned for a top-16 showing. The one-meter finals will take place right after the 50 free awards with the swimming starting at 6 p.m. EST.
Kahlia Warner, a senior from Florida, dove for the highest score of the morning at 329.60 over one of the two returners, Pei Lin (321.80) of Miami Ohio. Warner captured the Inward 1 1/2 Somersault Pike round in 57.60 as compared to Lin’s 56.40. The two exchanged scores for the next two dives, but matched one another on the Reverse 1 1/2/ Somersault Pike with a 2.4 degree of difficultly at 50.60. The Floridian locked in her top-seed by diving a 66 flat on a Reverse 2 1/2 Somersault Tuck to launch her ahead of Lin. Lin, who finished in tenth in last year’s consolations, has advanced considerably and tallied a higher score than her 2015 finals showing (321.40).
Freshmen divers Sharae Zheng of Nevada and Eloise Belanger of UCLA wrangled fourth and fifth seeds with their respective scores of 3:15.35 and 309.35. Stanford’s Gracia Leydon-Madhoney (303.85), UCLA’s Maria Plyakova (302.65), Georgia’s Olivia Ball (299.20), and Julia Vincent (298.30) wrap up tonight’s 8 highest scoring dives.
The only other diver to return from 2015 is Mary Beth Dunnichay of Purdue. Her score of 286.45 dropped her down to fifteenth versus her fifth place score of 323.20 last year.
