University of Missouri
Tennessee Diving Invite
McKernan Earns Top Three Finish on Final Day of Tennessee Diving Invitational
1/5/2018 3:55:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving, Swimming & Diving
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Senior Madeline McKernan (Montgomery, Texas) earned a third-place finish Friday on the final day of action at the three-day Tennessee Diving Invitational at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tenn. Over the three-day meet, the Tigers notched three third-place finishes and six top eight placements during the three days.
KEY PERFORMANCES
McKernan claimed third on platform today to help Mizzou take four of the top eight finishes on the event. She earned a five-round score of 253.60, less than a point out of second, highlighted by a 64.0 on her fourth dive, a back 2 1/2 somersault 1 1/2 twist pike. The Tigers also took sixth, seventh and eighth on the event, as senior Alexa Beckwith (Denver, Colorado) placed sixth with 229.4 points, senior Kendra Kieser (Plano, Texas) was seventh with 227.75 points and sophomore Payton Conrad (Omaha, Nebraska) took eighth with 227.6 points.
McKernan's third-place finish was Mizzou's third of the meet, as junior Kyle Goodwin (Aurora, Colorado) placed third on both springboards on Wednesday and Thursday. He tallied 394.15 points to take third on 3-meter on Wednesday, and followed that up with a finals total of 348.35 on 1-meter on Thursday for another top three finish.
QUOTABLES
Mizzou Head Diving Coach Jamie Sweeney
"We came to this meet because we knew it was going to be tough. We have a lot of talented divers who can be competitive but we also need to learn to overcome adversity. This week some were able to step up and some weren't but the experience will make us tougher. Kyle performed really well. He competed with some of the nation's top divers, beat some and felt like he belonged. That was really cool to see. Madeline stepped up to get third today on tower after we've barely trained platform since early December. We weren't breaking records at the meet but we're getting better and more comfortable overall. We're much better off tomorrow than we'd be if we didn't compete here."
UP NEXT
The Tigers head south to College Station, Texas, to take on Texas A&M on Saturday, Jan. 6 at Noon CT. The meet will be broadcast live on SEC Network +.
Players Mentioned
