March 19, 2004
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Diver Carrie McCambridge earned her first Honorable Mention All-America title Friday afternoon at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, placing 12th off the three-meter springboard with a score of 483.60. Her finish gave the Boilermakers five points, their first of the meet.
In three-meter competition each diver takes six dives, and if they finish among the top 24, they'll record five more dives in a semifinal round. McCambridge was in 15th after the prelims and moved up to 12th after semifinals, becoming the first Boilermaker diver to score at NCAA's since Nicole Zlotnik in 1992.
Zlotnik, like McCambridge, also was an NCAA Honorable Mention All-American; they are the only two Boilermakers in the history of the program to claim this title.
McCambridge's round-by-round prelim scores were 54.60, 40.60, 37.80, 50.40, 52.20 and 50.40 to give her a 15th-place total of 286.00. Her best score of 54.60 was attained off a backward 2-1/2 somersault. At the end of prelims, McCambridge was ahead of all her Big Ten rivals, including Indiana's Lindsay Weigle, Penn State's Alison Riccobono and Lisa Silvestri, Michigan's Tealin Kelemen and Minnesota's Rebecca Cornwaithe.
In the semis, McCambridge registered scores of 33.60, 37.80, 38.00, 44.10 and 44.10 to give her an afternoon total of 483.60. Again, the native of Lewis Center, Ohio, placed ahead of all her Big Ten rivals, passing Weigle on her 11th and final dive.
Freshman Amanda Miller did not advance to the semis, but put together a solid prelim round of 251.65 points. Her round-by-round scores were 49.95, 40.50, 37.80, 40.60, 46.40 and 36.40, giving her a 35th-place finish. Her best dive was an inward 2 1/2 somersault pike, for which she earned the 49.95.
Both Miller and McCambridge compete again Saturday off the platform. The diving tandem have excelled in platform this season, with both scoring at the Big Ten Championships and last week at the Central Regional Diving Zones.
Highlights from the morning session included Georgia setting the pace in the 200-meter medley relay with a top time of 1:50.48 ... Thursday night the Bulldogs won the 200 freestyle relay and the 400 medley relay ... Southern Cal's Kaitlin Sandeno recorded the third fastest time in the world this year with a 4:34.74 in the 400 individual medley ... PAC 10 rivals Tara Kirk and Natalie Coughlin tied for the top spot in the 100 butterfly, as each finished with a NCAA record time of 57.69 ... South Carolina senior Jennifer Vanassen clocked the top 200 freestyle time of 1:57.70 ... Tara Kirk of Stanford recorded a 1:04.44 in the breaststroke, breaking the NCAA, American and U.S. Open records ... Coughlin capped the prelims with a top time of 59.38 in the 100 backstroke.
Heading into Friday's finals Auburn leads the field with 188 points and Georgia is second with 135 points. Arizona is a distant third with 86 points, leading fourth-place Florida by two points and fifth-place Stanford by four points.
For complete and detailed results of the NCAA Championships, fans can log onto www.AggieAthletics.com or www.ncaachampionships.com.