Mar 16, 2010
East Chapel Hill senior Nick McCrory will represent Team USA at the FINA World Championships in Rome this summer. (Photo by Ben McKeown)
ATLANTA, Ga. – The Duke divers are in top form, and with the NCAA Championships just around the corner, they couldn’t have picked a better time.
On Day One of the NCAA Zone Diving Championships, Duke sophomore Abby Johnston dominated the field of one-meter competitors just as she did at the ACC Championships, scoring 317.95 points in the prelims. Johnston took advantage of a 25-point lead heading into the finals and expanding that margin in finals for a convincing victory. Second-place finisher Kara Salamone of Florida was more than 50 points back of Johnston while third-place finisher Hannah Moore of Georgia trailed by 63.45 points by the event’s end. Johnston’s best dive of the final round was her Forward 2.5 Somersault Pike with a 2.6 degree of difficulty that drew 7.5’s and 8.0’s from the judges. Senior Julie Brummond took 14th place in the competition with her score of 486.25.
The men opened up the 2010 Zone Diving Championships in fine fashion as Day One saw the performances of freshmen Nick McCrory and Jordan Long on the three-meter boards. McCrory punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships with an impressive showing in the event’s finals. After trailing Miami’s Ruben Ross by 16 points at the conclusion of prelims, McCrory pieced together a 449.80-point final to win the event. His finals score was more than 39 points better than any other individual in the field.
Long put together an impressive 325.50-point round; good enough for eighth to close out the morning prelims. His production fell off just slightly in the finals, but his 285.10 points earned him rights to 16th place overall.
Day Two was the reverse of Day One as the women competed on the three-meter board while the men took to the one-meter; however, the results were not much different. Johnston blew out all challengers, posting the top score in both the preliminary and final rounds. In prelims, Johnston registered a score of 373.85 which was 34 points better than the second-best score of the round. Her finals score of 350.15 points was less than a full point better than the score of second-place finisher Carrie Dragland of Alabama, but the cushion she accumulated in prelims was more than enough to secure the win and a place at the NCAA Championships. Brummond recorded scores of 285.85 and 295.35 in prelims and finals, respectively, to take tenth place in the championships.
All three male divers (McCrory, Long, and Cody Kolodziejzyk) were in action on Day Two. McCrory was unable to overcome the lead built up by Florida State’s Terry Horner, but his 743.05 points were good enough for a comfortable second-place finish. Kolodziejzyk used the strength of his preliminary round 290.30 points to take 18th-place in the championships. Combined with his 269.85-point finals, Kolodziejzyk finished with a 560.15 total. Long wrapped things up for the Blue Devils in 19th, missing the finals by just 1.05 points.
The 2010 Zone Diving Championships finished up on Day Three with the platform competitions. Brummond led the way for the Blue Devils, jumping out early with a 252.30-point performance in prelims. She followed up with a 215.95-point final round to claim ninth place. Johnston took 22nd-place after scoring 153.65 points in preliminaries.
McCrory once again proved his supremacy on the platform. He scored 480.10 points in prelims; no other diver broke 400 points in the round. Then in finals, McCrory turned in a score of 443.40 points, putting more than 50 points between himself and the next closest round score. All said and done, McCrory registered 923.50 points. Second place belonged to Kelly Marx of Auburn who scored 785.10 points.
Next for the swimmers and divers will be the 2010 NCAA Championships. The women’s championships begin on March 18 at Purdue University. The men’s championships get underway March 25 at Ohio State University.
This blog post is closed for comments.
