University of Missouri
NCAA Zone D Diving Championships
Three Divers Claim NCAA Championships Berths at Zones
3/8/2017 7:25:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Swimming & Diving
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Juniors Hunter Fritter (Houston Texas), Alexa Beckwith (Denver, Colorado) and Madeline McKernan (Montgomery, Texas) of the Mizzou men's and women's diving programs all punched tickets to the NCAA Championships Wednesday on the final day of the 2017 NCAA Zone D Diving Championships in Mizzou Aquatic Center. They'll join redshirt senior Lauren Reedy (Rochester Hills, Michigan) and sophomore Kyle Goodwin (Aurora, Colorado) at the Championships, who both qualified earlier in the week.
The women's Championships are slated for March 15-18, while men's run March 22-25, both at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Fritter earned his first NCAA Championships berth with a strong performance on platform on Wednesday. The junior scored 358.7 in prelims to earn a spot in finals, then notched 339.45 in the return session to take sixth on the event and qualify for NCAAs.
Also earning her first career Championships bid was Beckwith, who placed eighth on platform with a day total of 487.2. She went 246.3 in prelims then recorded 240.9 points in the finals to punch her spot to NCAAs.
McKernan placed fourth on platform to secure the second NCAA berth of her career. A first team All-American on the event as a sophomore last season, McKernan totaled 512.8 points Wednesday nearly identical rounds of 256.3 in prelims and 256.5 in finals. She is also eligible to dive 1-meter at NCAAs as she finished in the top 12 on the board on Tuesday.
"I'm so proud of how all our divers competed this week," Mizzou Head Diving Coach Jamie Sweeney said. "It was great to see Hunter put together 12 consistent dives today. He's been close to qualifying in the past so it's awesome for him. Alexa as well, she barely missed a spot last year. She really had to hit her final two dives in finals and she did."
Also on platform, Reedy took fifth on the women's side with 512.6 points (254.0 in prelims and 258.6 in finals) and Goodwin finished ninth in the men's competition with a two-round tally of 648.7 points (349.25 in prelims and 299.45 in finals). Both Tigers are eligible to compete on all three diving events at the Championships.
Additionally, junior Kendra Kieser (Plano, Texas) and sophomore Payton Conrad (Omaha, Nebraska) made women's platform finals. Kieser took 14th with 444.2 points and Conrad was 16th with 424.1 points.
NCAA Zone D Diving Championships
Day Three Results
Men's Platform
6. Hunter Fritter (697.7)
9. Kyle Goodwin (648.7)
Women's Platform
4. Madeline McKernan (512.8)
5. Lauren Reedy (512.6)
8. Alexa Beckwith (487.2)
14. Kendra Kieser (444.2)
16. Payton Conrad (424.1)
Players Mentioned
