Molly Fears Makes Finals in Platform and Advances to NCAAs

Saturday, March 16

West Lafayette, Ind.

All Day

University of Louisville

NCAA Diving Zones

Molly Fears does a somersault in the pike position.

Molly Fears Makes Finals in Platform and Advances to NCAAs

March 16, 2019 | Swimming & Diving

Platform competition ends three days of qualifying

By: Nancy Worley

W. LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- University of Louisville diver Molly Fears punched her ticket to the NCAA Championships when she finished tenth in women's platform at the NCAA Zone C Qualifier on the campus of Purdue. She will join Michaela Sliney as the Cardinal diving corps head to Austin, Texas next week for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

Molly Fears qualified fifth in prelims to advance to the finals where she scored 493.40 for the No. 10 slot.

Teammate Michaela Sliney finished 20^th in the women's platform with a score of 216.40. Brianna Price was 21st with a score of 216.10 followed by Annika Holland, who finished 22^nd with a total of 198.60.

On the men's platform, Kivanc Gur qualified 12^th in the prelims with a 322.60 and advanced to the finals where he finished 12^th with a total of 626.40.

Securing at least one automatic-qualifying finish is crucial. The top 12 overall in each event remains the other notable portion of the leaderboard. Once a diver has auto-qualified in one event, he or she only has to be among the top 12 in an additional event to also be eligible to compete in it at NCAAs. At Zones, the top-18 finishers in the springboard prelims and the top 12 in the platform prelims advance to the championship rounds, from which the divers qualify for the NCAA Championships. Scores carry over from prelims to finals.

There are five Zone Championships meets around the country. Zone C is the last of the five to begin. The other four were all held Monday through Wednesday of this week. Hosts this week included Navy (Zone A), Auburn (Zone B), Texas (Zone D) and Northern Arizona (Zone E). Texas is also hosting both the men's and women's NCAA Championships later this month. Zone C includes universities in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky. Unlike their swimmer counterparts, the divers have to perform well this weekend to qualify for the NCAA Championships. No other scores or results from regular-season competition are considered.

AUTOMATIC QUALIFYING SPOTS TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS FROM ZONE C
Top 12 in an event also qualify for NCAAs if he or she has already auto-qualified
1-Meter - Women: 9 // Men: 11
3-Meter - Women: 8 // Men: 8
Platform - Women: 12 // Men: 8