Dragland Punches Ticket to NCAA Championships

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Senior diver Carrie Dragland earned herself a trip to the 2013 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships with a fourth-place showing in Monday’s Zone B 3-meter event at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center.

Dragland, who captured three individual medals at the 2013 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships in Greensboro, N.C., was seeded sixth for the final round after scoring a 318.80 in afternoon preliminaries. But a 344.45 showing in the finals propelled her to a total score of 663.65 and fourth place in Zone B, automatically qualifying her one of ten NCAA Championship spots up for grabs.

Not far behind Dragland was junior Lindsay Lester, who was seeded fourth for the finals after delivering a 328.55 in preliminaries. A final-round score of 332.00 saw Lester capture fifth in the event, placing her just under the automatic qualifier cutoff list at No. 11.

Sophomore Kara McCormack finished 11th in the women’s 3-meter event, while freshman Tanner Wilfong took No. 12 in the men’s 1-meter.

The Hurricanes will return to the pool on Tuesday, as the women’s 1-meter preliminary rounds will take place from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m, with the final beginning at 1:15 p.m. The men’s 3-meter preliminary round will take place from 3;30 p.m. – 5:10 p.m., with the final round set for 5:25 p.m.