Canes Add Two More Spots at NCAA Championships
AUBURN, Ala. — Miami’s top springboard divers built on their momentum on Day 2 of Zone B qualifying at the Martin Aquatics Center on the Auburn University campus.
Both redshirt sophomore Alicia Blagg and redshirt senior Briadam Herrera, who turned in impressive performances Monday, clinched their spots at the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships in the remaining springboard events.
Blagg won Tuesday’s 1-meter, topping Brooke Madden of Florida for the best finish in a loaded field. The Great Britain native, who was second in Monday’s 3-meter event, was the top-seeded diver after 1-meter preliminaries with 327.90 points and finished with 642.75 to edge out Madden (602.95).
“I know that I could have done a lot better on the 3-meter [Monday] – I think the nerves got to me, and competing in a four-hour long event got the better of me,” Blagg said. “But overall, I’m happy, and hoping I’m saving my best for the NCAA Championships.”
Freshman Millie Haffety qualified for the finals with a score of 266.65 and ended the night’s final round in 12th place (543.30).
For Blagg, the chance to compete in her first NCAA Championships represents a special experience and something she’s been anticipating for three seasons.
“I”m just so excited for my first NCAAs,” she said. “I’ve just got to keep working hard and give it my all. I want to soak it all up, seeing as it’s my first one. I’m happy to be competing in both events, and hoping to do the Canes family proud.”
One day after posting the top finish in the 1-meter event, Herrera continued his strong postseason run with a second-place finish in the 3-meter to clinch his second spot at NCAA Championships. Herrera was the top finisher in preliminaries (412.35) and came in second place behind Zhipeng Zeng of Tennessee (828.15), who finished just 10 points ahead of Herrera (818.15).
Both Blagg and Herrera swept gold medals at the springboard events at the 2019 ACC Swimming & Diving Championships in Greensboro, N.C., combining for four gold medals. Blagg’s run at the NCAA Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships in Austin begins next week (March 20-23), while Herrera will compete the following week (March 27-30) in Austin.
Miami’s trip to Zone B qualifying ends Wednesday, when redshirt junior David Dinsmore and sophomore Zach Cooper take part in the men’s platform event.
