The Florida men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams saw their NCAA championship chances bolster this week in Atlanta.
Senior diver Kahlia Warner and freshman diver Samuel Smith each clinched a spot for the No. 9-ranked women’s and No. 4-ranked men’s swimming and diving team, respectively, during the first two days of the NCAA diving zones.
“It feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” Warner said in a press release on Monday. “My goal for this meet was to qualify on the first day so there would be less pressure over the next two days and it gives me some added confidence going into NCAAs.”
Warner, who dominated in the Southeastern Conference championship meet less than three weeks ago, flexed her strength during the first two days in Atlanta.
On Monday, during the preliminary round of the 1-meter diving event, Warner set the tempo early by placing first over 45 other competitors with a total score of 321.05 points through six dives. Her dominance would carry over into the final round, winning the 1-meter dive and securing a spot in the NCAA meet on March 16 with a total score of 657.10.
Among the 18 divers competing in the final round, Warner was one of only two divers to have a total score over 600 and the only diver to average greater than 52 points per dive (56.01).
In the 3-meter diving event both Warner and senior Emily Mosher advanced to the final round, each diver placing third and 13th in the preliminary round, respectively.
In the final round Warner showcased her dominance again by collecting her second win of the week and second NCAA berth with a winning score of 686.80. Warner was the only female diver on Tuesday to score above 661 points and average more than 55.40 points per dive (59.16).
In the 3-meter diving event on Monday, Smith, who has been Florida’s most productive diver on the men’s team this season, had a rough outing in the preliminaries. After struggling on his final two dives, the native from Knoxville, Tennessee, placed 21st with a score of 309.40, which was 10 points short of what he needed to advance to the 18-man final round on Monday.
His teammate, senior Zach Hernandez, advanced to the final round but finished 14th and was unable to secure a spot in the men’s NCAA meet on March 23.
The freshman, however, would bounce back on day two.
Competing in the 1-meter dives on Tuesday — an event in which he has three victories in during the regular season — Smith and Hernandez in the final round after finishing eighth in the preliminaries with a score of 323.80.
Needing a top-10 finish in the finals to clinch a spot in Atlanta, Smith posted a final score of 657.30, good enough to give him a seventh-place finish and a secured spot for his first NCAA championship appearance.
“We had Sam Smith, who showed up to the meet walking on crutches from his missed dive yesterday, and he competed well enough to earn a spot at the NCAA Championships,” UF diving coach Dale Schultz said in a release Tuesday. “He battled through his sets and even left the meet in crutches.”
Smith suffered an undisclosed leg injury during the meet. It is unknown yet whether or not the injury will keep Smith from competing today or at the NCAA meet in two weeks.
With only one event remaining for both the men’s and women’s divers — the platform dives — on Wednesday, it is now a matter of how many additional diving spots in the NCAA meets the Gators can clinch. But with two tickets already punched in three different diving events for the NCAA Championships, Schultz and his divers have given the Gators a much needed boost.
“At this point we’re looking to get back and rest a bit before we wrap things up tomorrow on the platform,” Schultz said.
Contact Sean Doty at sdoty@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @TheRealSeanDoty.
Khalia Warner dives during Florida’s meet against Auburn on Jan. 23, 2016, in the O’Connell Center.
