After the conclusion of the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships, senior Kara Salamone and junior Monica Dodson earned the right to represent the Florida Women’s diving team at the 2010 NCAA Championships.
The results of the three-day event in Atlanta marks just the third time in Gators diving coach Donnie Craine’s 27 years at Florida that more than one Gator qualified for the NCAA Championship Meet.
Salamone, the 2010 SEC Women’s Diver of the Year, finished in second place in both the platform and one-meter springboard competitions while placing fourth in the three-meter springboard. When the 2010 NCAA Championship Meet begins March 18-20 in West Lafayette, Ind., Salamone will be competing at the national level for the Gators for the second and final time after transferring from Texas after her sophomore year.
Dodson, qualifying for her third NCAA Championship Meet as a Gator, finished ninth in the one-meter, fifth in the three-meter and fifth on the platform.
Although the Florida men divers claimed multiple top-10 finishes in Atlanta, they failed to qualify any divers for the NCAA Championships. Sophomore Anthony Lewark finished seventh in the platform, 10th in the three-meter springboard competition and 11th on the one-meter springboard. Also representing the men’s divers in the one-meter and three-meter competitions was junior Jon Speed, finishing 17th and 18th respectively.
